December 2017 Philadelphia Chapter of Pax Christi U.S.A.
The Graterford Gray Panthers have developed a very informative website – check it out Spread the word! www.Graterfordgraypanthers.com
DEATH PENALTY OR DEATH BY INCARCERATION - CHOOSING THE "LESSER OF TWO EVILS"
THE GRATERFORD GRAY PANTHERS DEMAND SOMETHING BETTER
"Life in prison means growing sick, old, and dying there; a horrible experience, immoral in principle, unfair and discriminatory in practice. I can’t correct what I did wrong, but I can start over."
Inside of this cage, countless men are serving life sentences without the possibility of parole. They have, fundamentally, been sentenced to die in prison. For a number of them, the sentences they are serving are for crimes that were committed when they were teenagers.
Emerging research demonstrates that the brain does not finish developing until one’s mid-twenties, specifically the pre- frontal cortex, which controls decision-making, risk management, and impulse control. Additionally, after a certain age, one’s likelihood of committing another violent offense decreases dramatically.
We want to be the type of country that allows people who demonstrate no legitimate threat to public safety the opportunity to move beyond what they have previously done. Those who pose little danger and whom a judge clearly intended to go free.
The Graterford Gray Panther mission is: Advocacy, Re-Entry Sources, Assistance to those in need.
Echoes in Purgatory is a collection of writings by men and women who are serving a life sentence without the possibility of parole. Read their words, then listen quietly and you will hear their cry for their God given “Right to Redemption.”
1