The Journal of the Baptist Peacemaker October-December 2016 - 27

BPFna Peace BreakFasT
being	taken	to	the	brink	of 	death	only	to	be	snatched	back	in	the	
nick	of 	time	and	possibly	dangled	there	again,	weeks	or	months	
later...all	for	something	you	didn't	do.	If 	incarceration	is	trauma,	
then	death	row	exonerees	experience	trauma	on	steroids.
When exoneree Perry Cobb was asked to explain what it
was like to hear that he would be executed for a crime he did
not commit, he replied, "It's a little hard to describe... but I do
know that it's a pain that no artist can draw if a person's able to
give it to him in words." Alfred Rivera, North Carolina death
row exoneree, says, "There's nothing easy psychologically or
mentally about death row. It's pure pain and suffering."
Weservelt then said that exonerees don't just bounce back
from this experience.
As	you	can	imagine,	and	as	we	found,	you	don't	just	bounce	back	
from	this	experience.	While	the	day	of 	exoneration	is	certainly	
a	joyous	one,	the	journey	yet	to	come	is	rife	with	obstacles	and	
setbacks	and,	in	fact,	more	trauma.	The	typical	pathway	after	
exoneration	 for	 death	 row	 exonerees	 is	 one	 characterized	 by	 a	
lack	of 	support	or	resources	to	help	them	start	their	new	lives.	
While	some	have	family	members	who	try	to	assist	and	provide	
them	with	a	place	to	live	in	those	first	days	out,	many	do	not.	It's	
important to remember that in most cases exonerees are provided
with	no	resources	by	the	state	to	assist	them	in	restarting	their	lives.	
Mostly,	exonerees	receive	no	temporary	startup	funds	to	help	them	
find	temporary	housing	until	they	can	develop	a	long-term	plan	
(and	of 	course	they	are	not	allowed	into	federal	Section	8	housing	
because	of 	their	felony	records,	which	are	often	not	expunged).	
They	receive	no	assistance	with	their	medical	or	dental	
needs,	which	as	you	can	imagine	are	significant.	They	
receive	no	assistance	in	finding	employment	or	learning	
new	job	skills.	They	receive	no	mental	health	services.	
In	other	words,	the	system-the	state-does	not	take	it	
upon	itself 	to	provide	any	of 	these	resources	to	people	
wrongly	convicted.

forward,	I	would	encourage	us,	as	people	of 	faith	who	strive	to	
be	Christ-like,	not	to	be	afraid	to	reach	out	to	"the	least	of 	these"	
in	whatever	way	you	are	able.
At her request, Dr. Westervelt's honorarium was donated
to Witness to Innocence, the only national organization in
the United States composed of and led by exonerated death
row survivors and their family members. Proceeds from the
breakfast also supported the Out of the garden Project and
exoneree Lawyer Johnson (see	the	artwork	and	caption	on	this	page.)
You can find the complete texts of Dr. Westervelt's
remarks, including her suggestions for action, on our web site
(go to www.bpfna.org and find "One Christian's Thoughts
on Social Injustice in the US Criminal Justice System.") For
more information about Witness to Innocence, go to http://
witnesstoinnocence.org. For more about the Out of the
garden Project, go to www.outofthegardenproject.org for more
information.
To get more information about death row exonerees and
their stories, please refer to Saundra Westervelt and Kimberly
Cook's book Life	after	Death	Row:	Exonerees'	Search	for	Community	
and Identity (Rutgers University Press, 2012). All proceeds from
the sale of the book are donated to two organizations that assist
exonerees, Witness to Innocence and Centurion Ministries.
-LeDayne	McLeese	Polaski	is	the	BPFNA	executive	director.

Westervelt closed with a passionate call to
Christians to pay attention to and respond to these
realities.
When	I	think	of 	Christ,	I	think	of....forgiveness,	mercy,	
grace,	humility	and	a	reticence	to	reduce	anyone	to	the	
worst	thing	they	have	ever	done.	But	I	think	it's	safe	to	
say	that	you'd	be	hard-pressed	to	find	these	qualities	at	
work	in	our	current	system	of 	justice.	So,	as	we	move	

The	worship	bulletin	used	for	the	BPFNA	Peace	Breakfast	
shared	the	artwork	and	the	story	of 	exoneree	Lawyer	
Johnson.	Johnson,	who	learned	to	paint	while	in	prison,	
graciously	allowed	us	to	use	his	painting	"Cosmic	
Consciousness"	as	the	cover	of 	the	bulletin.	If 	you'd	like	to	
contact	him	about	church	use	of 	this	or	other	paintings,	email	
LeDayne	McLeese	Polaski	at	ledayne@bpfna.org.

Baptist Peacemaker

OCT-DEC 2016 27
http://www.bpfna.org http://witnesstoinnocence.org http://witnesstoinnocence.org http://www.outofthegardenproject.org
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of The Journal of the Baptist Peacemaker October-December 2016
