Monthly Archives: October 2009

Last night Priscilla Hutton was telling the youth group at her Catholic church about her work in the prisons.  In the course of her presentation, Priscilla shared this letter from Donna Stites, an inmate at the Indiana Women’s Prison in Indianapolis.  A few weeks ago … Continue reading →

A guest post by Friend of Justice, Charles Kiker  “[God] has broken down the dividing wall.” St. Paul “Something there is that doesn’t love a wall.” Robert Frost “Mr. Gorbachev, tear down that wall.” Ronald Reagan On the weekend of … Continue reading →

Last night I heard Dr. Steve Langford, my Methodist pastor, talk about the God who answered Job “out of the whirlwind.”  Just when I thought I was too damn educated to learn anything from a preacher I ran into Langford.  This guy changes … Continue reading →

A few days ago, the Dallas Morning News asked a number of priminent religious leaders from Texas to assess the morality of the death penalty.  Public discussion of criminal justice issues is rarely inspired by academic studies or cold statistics; discussion is … Continue reading →

Landis Barrow went to prison back in 2000 on the twisted word of undercover agent Tom Coleman.  (In the mugshots to the left, Landis is #2; see if you can pick out his twin brother, Mandis.)  Now the Texas Court of … Continue reading →

Doug Evans, the prosecutor who will put Curtis Flowers on trial for a record sixth time in June of 2010, has close links to an organization that denounces the civil rights movement as a communist conspiracy and wishes it could … Continue reading →

I have been following a surprising development that fills me with hope and, I confess, a measure of trepidation.  Next year, Mississippi will become the first state in the nation to mandate the teaching of the civil rights movements in its public schools.  This … Continue reading →

Can a three-day preaching event bring Dallas together? Two years ago I would have been skeptical.  Friends of Justice was toying with a “Can we talk about race?” project designed to spark serious conversation across racial lines.  No one seemed interested.  Black and white pastors … Continue reading →

The Greenwood Commonwealth has a reasonably thorough article on the Attorney General’s decision to drop the perjury charges against James Bibbs.   Rod McDuff, Mr. Bibbs’ attorney, told the Commonwealth that “There really wasn’t any evidence to support the charge of perjury.  The attorney general’s … Continue reading →