Echoes: The Continuation of Mass Incarceration
James Inge
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At 19 James Inge not accepting a plea bargain was sentenced to Life without Parole.
…unfair and excessive sentencing also demonstrates why there is a need for an increase in commutation recommendations by the PA Board of Pardons (BOP) to rectify past inequities in the judicial process. Granting commutation to deserving applicants is also a way to eliminate disparities in sentencing as an attempt to end unnecessary mass incarceration in the state of PA.
During the 2016 Campaign for the position of Attorney General, the main television ads by then- candidate Joshua Shapiro were aimed at criminal justice reform in the state of PA. We are now three years into the administration of Attorney General Shapiro and not much has changed in the area of criminal justice reform for the state of PA. For the past 30 to 50 years or more, many rehabilitated lifers have languished in PA prisons with little relief offered through the process of applying to the PA BOP for recommendation to the Governor for commutations of their sentence.
Many lifers are worried about applying for clemency after the recent actions of two members of the current PA BOP. During a recent BOP session, Attorney General Shapiro and Harris Gubernich chose to deny recommending several lifers for commutation even though those lifers had demonstrated exemplary rehabilitated behavior for more than 3 and 4 decades and had received Merit Review recommendation to the BOP by the Department of Corrections.
Often, aspirations for political office can over-rule a Board member’s rational judgment. The BOP should not be an arena where lifers, as well as victims’ families, are used as a pawn in the aim of greater political power. It is time to take politics out of decisions made by members of the BOP …
Commutation of life sentence inmates who have demonstrated rehabilitation for the past 30, 40, and 50 years, and pose no threat to public safety would save the state millions of dollars. Any politician, who would knowingly allow the state to waste millions of dollars on unnecessary mass incarceration to boost his political career selfishly sacrifices the interests of the state for personal gain, should be voted out of office.
James Inge, AF-8705, a life without parole sentence inmate at SCI-Phoenix,
has been incarcerated 47 years & denied commutation 7 times. To comment, call his wife Andrea Inge at 215.880.2269