Why Juvenile Lifers in Michigan are Still Waiting on Resentencing

Dear Reader,

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. Myself, along with 199 other juvenile lifers in Michigan have been waiting nearly 3 1/2 years to have our day back in court after the Supreme Court ruled that juvenile lifers have the right to be resentenced and to come home. 

Please click the link below to find out the reasons behind the stagnancy. 

https://www.freep.com/in-depth/news/local/michigan/2019/08/15/juvenile-lifers-michigan/1370127001/

Thank you for your support,
Robert

Help From Above

By Kenneth Anderson

On April 16, 2019 Ms. Valerie Newman director of the conviction integerity unit (CIU) for Wayne County, visited the men here at Lakeland Correctional Facility in Cold water Michigan. Ms. Newmen was kind enough to accept an invitation from Kenneth L. Anderson chairmen of the wardens forum committee and Mr. Robert Hinds on behalf of the men at Lakeland correctional facility, to come do a work shop on the conviction integrity unit. Ms. Newmen worked for the state appellate defenders office (SADO) for 23 years before leaving to head up Wayne counties first conviction integrity unit. While at SADO she represented thousands of men and women, fighting and winning some of the most high profile cases in Michigan. Going head to head with Kym Worthy and the prosecutors office to win the release of her clients. Earning the moniker SADO's pit bull of the office. She's argued twice in front of the united States Supreme Court, which is the highest court in the land. She's argued in both the state and federal courts. It was because of her dedication and brilliant legal mind, along with her own high integrity that she was picked by Kym Worthy to head Wayne counties CIU in the first place. Ms.Valerie Newmen informed the men exactly what her unit does and who they can help. She's headed the CIU for a year to date, in that time her unit has been able to win the release of eight men. Her unit is small consisting of herself one other full time attorney, two part time attorneys, and a detective who investigates her clients claims of innocence. Presently her unit has roughly 900 claims of innocence. At all times her unit has 25 to 30 active working cases open at a time. Once they close one they'll open a new one. She sets a high standard of honesty and integrity for the clients as well as those working under her. When her office is contacted about a claim of innocence they do their own thorough investigation and if there's a proven injustice she fights for their release. Although the decision to leave SADO was a hard one and a number of men and women lost one of the best attorney's in Michigan, the wrongfully convicted men and women gained their best hope of ever being released with Ms. Valerie Newmen heading the CIU.
Ms.Newmen answered any question asked of her by the men and gave great sound advice about how to contact her office. Unfortunately her office only handles cases out of Wayne county, however she did inform the men that the Michigan attorney generals office has recently started their own conviction integrity unit that will take everyone else's cases not in Wayne county. She informed us that she'd be willing to come back again in the future to speak to us. We the men of Lakeland correctional facility would like to thank her once again for taking time out of her day and travelling over two hours to hold this very insightful workshop. Not many in her position would have done something like this for free, yet alone for hundreds of convicted men. A special thanks goes out to warden Noah Nagy, and special acts director Dennis Birch, who helped put this event together and was a very important part of making sure everything went smoothly.

An Uncommon Connection: Inmate Gives Homeless Teens the Gift of Dignity

When was the last time that you passed a homeless person on the street and judged them for being there? Did you presume that they were their by choice, their own foolish or irresponsible decisions, or that they were simply victims of circumstance? Did you acknowledge their existence as you walked or drove by or did you pretend like they weren't even there?

Growing up on the rough streets of the eastside of Detroit, I have seen human life at it's rawest form; homelessness included. The truth is that people end up homeless for many reasons and while those socioeconomic factors must be addressed in legislation and in our communities, every individual has the opportunity to impact a homeless person's life by just acknowledging that they are there.

While I have never been homeless, I do know what it is like to be prejudged and dehumanized. I know what it is to be stripped of the smallest basic human dignities, to crave an ounce of human kindness or affection, and to feel lost in the dark. I was wrongfully convicted of a crime at the age of 17 and have been incarcerated for 15 years now. Most of my days are spent seeking justice and exoneration so that I can reclaim my life. Over the years, my desperate pursuit of freedom has made me more sensitive and compassionate to the struggles of others around me. As a young teen searching for acceptance on the streets of Detroit, I know firsthand what it feels like to be young, disillusioned, and on your own. Left to drown in your own abyss of hopelessness, the world will grow darker as you grow more cynical, jaded, and withdrawn. Unless....unless there are places and people who remember that you have value beyond your circumstances. Places like Ozone House in Ann Arbor, MI.

Ozone House is a community-based, nonprofit agency that helps young people lead safe, healthy, and productive lives through intensive intervention and prevention services. Through these support services, they help youth develop essential life skills, improve their relationships, and enhance their self-image so that they may realize their full potential for growth and happiness. There are approximately 1300 in Washtenaw County each year. Homelessness for youth means more than the absence of a safe place to sleep, enough food to eat or shelter from the cold. Homelessness means a lack of safe, healthy relationships, unimaginable exploitation, and vulnerability to looming dangers like physical assault, sexual assault, or human trafficking.

As a former troubled inner-city youth, I was recently inspired to come up with a way that I could help this cause. While I am in prison and my freedom is restricted, my kindness can travel to places I currently can not with some effort, organization, and team work. Hygiene items are an outreach tool that help provide the homeless with a sense of dignity. It may be hard to imagine that a deodorant or a tube of toothpaste could mean so much to someone, but it does. It says, "I see you and I care."  I had the pleasure of spearheading a prison fundraiser during the recent holiday season to collect hygiene items to donate to Ozone House. I am pleased to say that I was able to achieve my set goal of collecting items to create care packages for 30 homeless teens that include toothpaste, tooth brushes deodorant, soap, and lip chap.  I hope that this small gesture of kindness will inspire the teens to continue to pursue positive changes in their lives and to appreciate the people around them like the amazing staff at Ozone House who have committed themselves to supporting them on their journey. We may never physically meet, but we are connected in a community bigger than prison walls or homeless shelters. We are connected by humanity and as such we are all worthy of love and dignity.

How the Gift of Self-Expression Has Impacted My Life

Dear Reader:

November 13, 2016, was a great experience for me. I had the opportunity to participate in the creative writing workshop with the University of Michigan PCAP Students. This workshop was very meaningful. This was ran by two U of M students named Kaitlin and Hanna. I would also like to acknowledge the coordinator, Ashley. The energy and perspectives that were shared within this class generated a very positive form of therapy because the reality is that in prison, having an outlet to express the things that are on our minds can change our day.

The most exciting part of this workshop for me is being seen as a human being for an hour and a half. In addition, I find it intellectually stimulating to be given things that have some substance to write about as prompts. The creative thoughts that manifest within the students through this workshop are very profound. This encouragement that's being given through this form of expression is something that those who don't understand its significance can't place proper value on.

As an inmate often times we sit and can't deal with our thoughts. Having PCAP staff and students giving this opportunity for us to share our work, gives me and the other guys something positive to look forward to every week. Sometimes in life we don't see any value in the small things like this writing workshop. This program is something that I look forward to.  I hope to some day have the opportunity to be able to give back by giving some of my time to PCAP so that I can help someone feel how I'm feeling right now....motivated!

Sincerely,
Robert

"Remember there's no such thing as a small act of kindness. Every act creates a ripple with no logical end." -Scott Adams

Donated Hygiene Items Bring Hope to Sex Traffic Victims in Metro Detroit

I'm a proud Detroit native. I learned a lot of tough life lessons growing up on the streets of Detroit....one of them being how to read people. I pride myself on my sense of perception. It often amazes me how someone can be blindsided by the same trouble that I can see coming from a mile away. However, recently, my sense of perception has been challenged and I want to pass that challenge on. You see, sometimes what we believe we see is really what we want to see and not necessarily what is truly there. Foe example, in Detroit, when you see a certain type of girl on Michigan Avenue at 2 a.m., you make assumptions about why she's there and what she's doing. Short skirt, exposed breast, semi-grungy, stiletto heels.... it's clear she's working the block right? Maybe....but according to the National Human Trafficking Resource Center, in the city of Detroit, it's more likely that the block is working her.

Human trafficking is a modern-day form of slavery where men, women and children are forced into prostitution, domestic servitude and other labor for little or no pay.  It is the second-largest and fastest-growing criminal industry in the world and Michigan is the No. 2 in the country for human trafficking. Victims of human trafficking are controlled by force, fraud or coercion, for the purpose of sex or labor exploitation.  Statistics show that children are especially at risk being that 40% of human trafficking cases involve the sexual exploitation of a child. In the short span of a moment, an individual's life can be changed forever as they are exploited and trafficked from state to state like cattle.

It's distressing to think that such darkness exists in the city that I came from. However, recently, I learned about an organization in Detroit that is a beacon of light for victims of human trafficking called All Worthy of Love, which is a justice focused non-profit that reaches out to men and women enslaved by street-prostitution.  They work to prevent sex-trafficking through awareness, promote awareness through various speaking engagements at local churches, schools, and small groups to educate the community of modern day slavery, and rescuing victims of trafficking through weekly outreach. All Worthy of Love develops partnerships with local organizations that offer safe housing and restorative care to help victims. The individuals that work on their outreach teams are fearless. A team of 4 go out to the same neighborhood every week. They reach out to men and women working on the street and visit several crack houses to pray with prostitutes, pimps, drug dealers, and gang members.

I was inspired to come up with a way that I could help this cause. I was informed that hygiene items are an outreach tool that's used to help victims so I spearheaded a prison fundraiser to collect hygiene items to donate to All Worthy of Love. I am pleased to say that I was able to achieve my set goal of collecting a couple hundred items to create care packages for 35-40 victims that includes shampoo, toothpaste, deodorant, soap, and lip chap. It's my sincere desire that these items would symbolize hope to the victims...a light at the end of a dark tunnel.....a way of letting them know that somebody sees them and somebody cares. I know what it feels like to be in prison and to feel forgotten. I also know what it feels like to receive the gift of hope. It changes everything.

If you know of someone who is being trafficked please call the National Human Trafficking Hotline Number (888-373-7888).

Until Next Time....Live Your Life on Purpose,
Robert

Gus Harrison Correctional Facilty Inmates give over $3000 to Homeless Kids and Domestic Violence Surviors

A wise person once said, “If you don’t like the direction your life is going…change it.” It’s impossible to grow as an individual without embracing change. Complacency is an intellectual prison where too many people are happily serving life sentences. Over the last 15 years of my life, I have had to embrace both changes that I initiated and changes that were impressed upon me. Each change presented me with an opportunity. I could resist change and stunt my growth or I could utilize the change to help transition me further along in my journey for freedom. One of the things that I became mindful of over the years, was always looking for an opportunity to give back whenever possible. Recently, as a warden forum representative at the Gus Harrison Correctional Facility, I was given an opportunity to participate in a community initiative that provided $3,000.00 to a local community in need. Giving back to the Lenawee County community has become an annual effort by inmates at the Gus Harrison Correctional Facility.

On August 29, 2016, the Warden’s Forum and Prisoner Benefit Fund at Gus Harrison made two donations to two great causes. The money that was given was raised by inmates like myself.  It actually comes from the fund that collects money through inmate food purchases that are made outside of everyday meal times.

The first donation that we made was $3,000 to the Catherine Cobb Domestic Violence Shelter in Adrian. This shelter operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year to provide a place where survivors of domestic violence can go by themselves or with their children and find physical safety in a home-like setting.

The second donation that we made was to the Lenawee Intermediate School District in the form of $3,000 worth of school supplies. The supplies is specifically designated to help homeless students. Surprisingly enough, there are at least 700 of in the county. One of the challenges that keeps these kids from attending school is having the proper supplies.

Both of the organizations that we gave to assist individuals who are at a pivotal point in their lives. We’ve all been at a crossroad in our life.  A place where change was insistent and scary. Some of us had a friend, relative, or kind stranger to make the transition a bit easier. And others of us earned our degree of survival at the school of hard knocks. My utmost desire is that the earnest effort that myself and the other inmates at the Gus Harrison Correctional Facility have made to be a blessing to someone facing changes in their life will have a positive impact on the intended individuals and a ripple effect on both this local community and the audience reading this post.

To read the entire story visit

http://www.lenconnect.com/news/20160830/gus-harrison-prisoners-donate-3000-to-two-groups

                      (Copyright: Photo taken by Lonnie Huhman of lenconnect.com)

Until next time….later….

Robert

Is it Possible for Former Felons to Return to their Community and Really Make a Difference?

On 8/27/16, here at Adrain Correctional facility the NLA sponsored an event which invited two guest speakers: Willis X harris and Shirley Bryant of the Michigan Lifer's Reporter. This event was amazing. The turnout of prisoners was surprising to me. I would have never epected some of the people that were present to have an interest in isues dealing with corrections, changing laws, legislations, legislators, and them (legislators) being uninformed when it comes to corrections. Should we view them being uninformed as a lack of interest, is a question that we must ask ourselves.

This event was very informative. One thing that was highlighted was the need for people in prison and in society to be a voice when it comes to something that you are passionate about. Being a voice by, writing letters by mail or on social media, and even peaceful assembly. Most of us will get offended if someone tells us; "sit down and shut up". However this is what we do through our actions and lack of action, most of us just: "sit down and shut up." This is the case even with someone that needs a job, they don't try to find one, they don't ask a friend, do you know someone that's hiring? They just sit down, sit around, and shut up. How many people do you know that have accoplished anything doing that?

I'm hoping that many of them men that were present in the event left feeling inspired to make some sort of change in their personal life, the system, or a change that could have a positive impact on somone else's life. I'm hoping that the men who's hearts were already filled with the desire to make a positve change left feeling recharged. Sometme we need that. There's a question that I really need answered. How can someone returning to your community have a positve impact. How can they contribute? This is a question that needs to be answered, so I'm one to hearing what anyone have to say. Give your honest opinion. Maybe I can be the voice that shares these needs with the guys that will be coming to your community.