July 2014 Philadelphia Chapter of Pax Christi U.S.A.
Echoes in Purgatory: Right to Redemption
Right to Redemption (R2R) is a group of men
who have come together to take on the monumental task of getting a retroactive parole-eligibility-for-lifers bill
passed in the state of Pennsylvania,
and eventually have the sentence abolished nationwide.
Echoes is a continuing effort of CPF and Lifers Inc. to educate the public and our legislators about the injustice of Life without Parole here in PA.
Lifers Incorporated Right To Redemption Committee Excerpts from Statement of Redemption
… Every incarcerated person should have at least the opportunity to prove that he or she has changed and is worthy to re- enter society. The lifetime confinement of people who are proven by study after study to pose little or no threat to public safety is not only a cancellation of human potential, but a huge waste of scarce tax dollars.
Almost five thousand men and women in Pennsylvania are serving death by incarceration (aka, life-without-parole) sentences for acts committed many years if not decades ago. The cost to keep a human being caged in Pennsylvania is more than $35,000 a year. At this price, a person confined for 32 years and 3 months would cost taxpayers a MILLION plus dollars, not counting inflation or cost escalation associated with aging.
All prison sentences should include the possibility for redemption through a fair process determining when incarceration is no longer serving public interest. The damnation of a human being to spend the rest of his or her natural life in prison without even the possibility of a parole evaluation at any point in the future is a negation of the distinctly human capacity for redemption, a denial of the individual’s core humanity, and a violation of an inalienable human right. …
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