J. R. Woodgates
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It was two-and-a-half years between the one time I was interviewed by the FBI in late 2002 about my Internet activities at work and when I received notification from my lawyer that I would face a single charge for possession of child pornography. It was another year after that before I actually stood before a federal judge in Washington, DC and pled guilty to that charge.
Unbeknownst to anyone but a few prayer partners, clergy and family, I had spent those three-and-a-half years going through a rigorous process of church discipline, clinical examination and personal restoration. By the time I stood before the judge, I was a different man from the one who had been engaging in such disordered behavior in 2002. Nevertheless, he convicted me of my crime.
In the fall of 2006, just as I began a nine-month stay in a federal low security correctional institution in North Carolina, I divulged my situation in the parish magazine of my large suburban Episcopal church.* I was overwhelmed by the loving response it elicited. Six months later, I followed up that article with an epistle from prison.
Read both articles now to gain a better understanding of my full story…and the discoveries that inspired me to write Daily Light on the Prisoner’s Path:
* In 2009, having left The Episcopal Church, it became a founding parish of the Anglican Church in North America.
In recent years, federal sentencing guidelines have been revised, resulting in less severe prison terms for low-level drug offenders. But…tens of thousands of inmates who were convicted in the “war on drugs” of the 1980s and 1990s are still behind bars.
The average annual cost of housing a federal inmate in general population is $27,500. The price tag for an older inmate who needs medical care – including expensive drugs and treatment – is $59,000.
THE PAINFUL PRICE OF AGING IN PRISON
Why are we keeping someone behind bars who is bedridden and needs assistance getting out of bed and feeding and clothing himself?
As a parent, you have unique authority from God to influence the spiritual atmosphere around your child. Whether he’s living behind bars, under your roof or out on his own, your child will be affected by these intercessory prayers – all based on Scripture promises.
Taken from the Christian newspaper, Herald of His Coming, which your incarcerated loved one can receive by mail for free.
Prison life may be a recurring theme on TV and in the movies, but prisoners themselves often feel totally ignored and forgotten by the public. The fact is, prisoners are totally ignored and forgotten by most people – including the ones responsible for their well-being.
This is John Oliver at his best, examining the indifference too many top officials have towards the conditions endured by too many incarcerated Americans. (Obscene language advisory)
Royalties from all retail sales enable me to give away copies of the Recommended Reading titles to prison chaplains, upon request. They also enable me to provide free paperback copies of Daily Light on the Prisoner’s Path to prison ministries for distribution to inmates.
Click HERE and HERE to see who is distributing free copies of DLPP.
For more information, write to:
Prisoner’s Path Books
Post Office Box 32014
Washington, DC 20007
I can be contacted at PrisonersPathBooks@gmail.com.
The vast majority of prison inmates are in state prisons, rather than federal prisons – almost seven times as many.
While reduced sentencing guidelines for non-violent drug offenses will now result in shorter prison sentences for those prosecuted by the feds, the vast majority of criminals are prosecuted by state justice systems.
See how – for them – the likelihood of sentencing reform is remote, at best (unless they live in Texas):