Scenes of Prison
48. A Gathering of Ghosts
"W e don’t have a Death Row here at LCC, so I suppose that’s why I never hear anyone talking about it,” I said, “but I’ve been thinking about capital punishment lately. What do you guys think about it?”
I was unwrapping my sandwich, and this was the question I asked Benjamin and Richard to begin our Tuesday lunch discussion. I thought it would be interesting. However, I didn’t know that I’d raised a very emotional issue. Richard spoke next.
“It’s a very controversial subject. My wife and I usually argue if the subject comes up,” he said.
“I avoid the topic. People even have conflicted feelings in their own minds,” said Benjamin. “They will hold different views depending upon when you talk with them and what’s on their minds. But I think we should listen to people who are no longer able to speak for themselves, and I have just the person in mind to tell you about. His name was Larry.
“I became acquainted with Larry when he completed a short prison sentence with us here at LCC a few years ago,” said Benjamin. “As I recall, he had alcohol issues, and he turned to theft when his need for alcohol became urgent. He was not a violent person, and I think committing crimes frightened him just a bit. It is a dangerous thing to do. From knowing Larry, I would guess that if he were caught committing a crime, he wouldn’t run, and he wouldn’t fight. He wouldn't try to protect himself either. I think he would more likely look for a good place to hide. He was the kind of thief who would break into a business in the middle of the night when no one would be present to disturb him. Larry was a drunk, but when he was sober, he was likable, and I liked him.
“We released Larry, and he returned to a familiar pattern that he had followed throughout his adult life. He found a job, but he also started to drink,” Benjamin continued. “When his drinking and his job conflicted, he turned to theft to keep the alcohol flowing. Before long, Larry found himself on his way back to prison. This time, he went to the Nebraska State Penitentiary. It was at the Nebraska State Penitentiary that Larry met Butch.
“Butch was a killer. I don’t know how many times Butch had killed before coming in front of the judge who would send him to the Nebraska State Penitentiary, but it was enough times to convince Butch that he was too dangerous for prison, and he warned the judge not to do it. As the judge was about to sentence Butch, he told the judge he would kill again if he was sent to prison, and he advised the judge to impose the death penalty for the safety of others. Unfortunately for Larry, the judge chose instead to impose a life sentence without parole.
“Butch was the man Larry found in his room one day,” said Benjamin. “Butch had moved in. Butch was his new cellmate.
“Not long after moving in,” went on Benjamin, “Butch went to staff one morning and warned them that Larry needed to be moved. Larry had irritated him, and he would kill Larry if he remained in his cell. For reasons unknown to me, they did not move Larry, and they didn’t move Butch, either. It seems clear that Butch should have been moved to a segregation cell and placed on Immediate Segregation, but that didn’t happen. Perhaps overcrowding limited their choices.
“Imagine for a moment being the staff member on duty who closed Larry into his room at nine o’clock in the evening at deadlock count on the day when Butch had warned staff that he would kill Larry if he wasn’t moved,” said Benjamin. “You would look into Larry’s eyes, and he would notice your glance, and both of you would know that Butch intended to kill Larry, and he might very well carry out his threat before you broke deadlock the next morning. That really happened, you know. I knew Larry, and someone really did lock him in his room that night knowing of the threat that Butch had made. The caseworker probably wondered if he would see Larry alive again. As it turned out, the answer was ‘no.’ Butch killed Larry with no further warning that same evening. The next sentencing judge to face Butch granted his request and imposed the death sentence. Butch went to Death Row where he didn’t have to worry about roommates.”
Richard spoke next.
“I knew another inmate who was also serving a life sentence for murder,” said Richard, “and he also killed his roommate because he had irritated him. It was a case very similar to Butch’s case, and he also received a death sentence when he went before his next judge. He, too, moved to Death Row, and he had Butch living nearby. They’re neighbors right now.”
“I know of a similar case, myself,” I said. “This inmate is serving a life sentence without parole for murder, and he’s at the Nebraska State Penitentiary, too. He was ordered to stand trial for first degree murder in the death of his roommate, but he was ruled innocent by reason of insanity and sent back to the prison. How would you like to find this guy in your room as your new cellmate?”
“While we’re telling stories about Nebraska, did you read about the case down South?,” asked Richard. “Allen Breed and Jeffrey Collins are reporters for the Associated Press, and they recently wrote about four killings that occurred in South Carolina. Their article appeared in the Independent and was published in the United Kingdom. I’ll spare you the considerable gore that they described, but here are the pertinent details.
“On April 7, 2017, Jacob Philip and Denver Simmons hatched a plan. Philip and Simmons are South Carolina prison inmates serving life sentences. Each had killed twice in unrelated murders, and they were tired of prison. Each had tried suicide but had failed in their attempts to end their own lives. They wanted the death penalty applied to them to insure that the job was done correctly, so on this day, they decided to resume killing. They liked killing, and the more they killed, the easier it got. They hoped that more murders would get them the sentences they wanted. Death,” said Richard.
“Around mid-morning, they began luring inmates to Simmons’s cell. John King was first. He was promised some coffee. William Scruggs was next with a promise of cookies. Jimmy Ham was next, followed soon after by Jason Kelley. One at a time, once they were inside the room, they were strangled and stabbed and stomped to death. Viciously and crudely. After thirty minutes of relentless killing, Simmon’s cell was crowded with bodies, and the floor was slippery with blood, and they were both tired. They went to the guard station and suggested the guard look in Simmons’s room.
“The crime was a sensation. It even made the newspapers in the UK, but it didn’t get them the death penalty. Each already had two life sentences without parole. Now, they both had four more,” finished Richard.
“I imagine a gathering,” said Benjamin, “a gathering of ghosts. On one side of the room are Larry and John and William and Jimmy and Jason and all the other ghosts of those who have been killed in our prisons by killers who should have been sentenced to death, but weren’t. On the other side are the judges who pronounced the life-without-parole sentences that spared the lives of their killers and brought them into the prison. Just behind the judges are the prosecutors, legislators, and politicians who acted to limit the discretion of the judges in their sentencing decisions. They are complicit in the decision to set loose into our prisons men who have killed before and would likely kill again.
“What do you suppose these ghosts would say at such a meeting?,” he asked.
Richard and I were anxious to see where Benjamin was going with his imagined gathering, so neither of us spoke.
“I have strong feelings about this,” went on Benjamin, “so I’ll try to speak for them. Here goes.
“‘YOU COWARDS! YOU did this to us,’ said one, and the others nodded in approval.
“‘The prison is our home. It’s where we live, and you sent killers there to live. What did you think they were going to do?,’ said another.
“‘They’re laughing at you. They don’t care if they live or die. The longer they get to live, the more killing they get to do. They enjoy killing. That’s why they keep doing it,’ said another.
“‘You think you send them to prison as punishment, but they get to keep on killing! They kill prison inmates, and no one cares if one of us dies. That’s a killer’s heaven,’ said another.
“‘I’m fighting for my life and losing with a guy on top of me choking the life out of me, and you’re responsible. Why me? What did I do to deserve a death penalty?,’ said another.
“‘Refusing to impose the death penalty does not mean that no one is going to die,’ said another.
“‘A sentence of life without parole gives these killers nothing to lose, and grievous harm will continue to come to others. It just won’t be people in the community, like you. It will be other inmates like us who will have to die. When you chose not to sentence the killers to death, you sentenced us to death, instead,’ said another.”
“That’s a pretty talkative bunch of ghosts you’ve got there, Benjamin, and they seem pretty anxious to scold the judges. Are they finished?,” asked Richard.
“No. No. There’s more,” said Benjamin. “They’ve got a lot to say. They’ve waited a long time for someone to give them a chance to speak.
“‘How would you feel if you found yourself roomed up with a killer, a person with a life sentence with no opportunity for parole? Would you sleep comfortably at night trapped in the room until deadlock ends and the door opens the next morning? How would you like Denver Simmons as your next door neighbor?,’ asked another.
“‘What would you do if you were incarcerated and a killer approached you and demanded that your wife smuggle drugs into the Visiting Room in her vagina during your next visit, drugs that you would then deliver to him? Your wife would be risking a prison sentence herself, yet refusing to do so could be your death sentence. And what would happen to the killer who killed you? He’s already doing a life sentence without parole?,’ said another.
“The list of awful things these very dangerous men with nothing to lose may do to inmates like Larry is long,” said Benjamin. “They may demand monthly payments for protection. They may deliver dangerous contraband to them like drugs, weapons, and cellphones and insist that people like Larry hold them and assume the risk of detection. They may make sexual demands of them and even pimp them out to others.”
Richard spoke up. He tried to calm the discussion.
“As a society, we struggle with the death penalty, and strong emotions accompany any discussion of it. In many jurisdictions, it’s not even available,” said Richard. “But what can we do?”
“For the Larrys in the prisons, from their point of view, people who oppose the death sentence seem quite callous,” said Benjamin. “Cruel. They don’t seem to care that they are putting dangerous people in our prisons. Opponents of the death penalty fail to address the thoughts, fears, and experiences of the people inside the prison who live there.”
“Yes. It’s ironic that well-meaning people who wish to preserve life and reduce suffering in fact bring increased suffering and loss of life onto the Larrys in our prison system,” said Richard.
Benjamin and Richard were spent. It seemed to be a good time to wind down the conversation.
“So what do we do?,” I asked, repeating Richard’s earlier question. It seemed like a harmless thing to say.
“JAMES! Haven’t you been listening?,” said Benjamin. “We should listen to the ghosts. Listen to the people who have suffered the most. Listen to those who have died. Listen to those who can never again speak for themselves,” he said. “We should use the death penalty. Often.”
“Now wait a minute,” I said. “Who’s going to do the executing? Who’s going to change the laws? We can’t just start killing people. Maybe we can build special prisons for these criminals or at least one housing unit just for murderers. Can’t we figure out something to keep our Larrys safe?”
“I don’t know the answer,” said Benjamin. “People in charge! People who make laws! Judges who sentence killers! Legislators who appropriate money!
"That’s above my pay grade. I just hope the people in charge can figure this out and hurry up, so we won’t have to bury many more Larry’s," finished Benjamin.
Discussion
- A famous pirate once reminded his listeners saying “Dead men tell no tales.” The author gives a voice to the victims of murderers who should have been sentenced to death, but weren’t. Are these voices persuasive to you?
- How would you fill the need to protect the inmates from each other in a maximum security prison, especially from those serving a life without parole sentence for past murders?
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