Man Is Set Free After Spending 22 Years In Jail For a Crime He Did Not Commit

I've known Nick for over 28 years. He was incarcerated in Huntingdon and Greene Prisons in Pennsylvania. He was incarcerated for 22 years, in Solitary Confinement on Death Row. He was charged with Rape and Murder. His experience in prison was horrible, on the verge of a mental breakdown and depressing to the point of wanting to die. The effect of his incarceration was two-fold. It did help him get off drugs and better educate himself, but it also destroyed him emotionally living every day with the thought of dying for a crime he did not commit. In this case, incarceration was most definitely not the right choice. Rehabilitation for drugs would have been more successful and prevented him from doing time for the capital offense he was wrongly accused of.

Nick is a 45 year old white male. He was a typical kid growing up in the Southwest Philly-Darby area. Nick was not an angel. He was a victim of a changing society, influenced by drugs, crime and lack of an education. He was just like the rest of us, caught up in the world of narcotics. As the "War on Drugs" progressed, so did the destruction of our neighbors, friends and relatives. Instead of moving into treatment programs that were not available, most moved into prison that changed their lives forever. Angela Davis, in her book "Are Prisons Obsolete?" describes how treatment programs should be offered instead of prison sentences to truly reform and rehabilitate drug offenders. "...proposals to decriminalize drug use should be linked to the development of a constellation of free, community based programs accessible to all people who wish to tackle their drug problems...anyone, regardless of economic status, who wishes to conquer drug addiction should be able to enter treatment programs." If Nick had found himself in a treatment program at an early age, and was able to combat his addiction to drugs, before he was ever arrested for anything, he very well may not have been involved in the situation he was in, that almost ended his life.

Nick was originally arrested in 1981 for attempted homicide and kidnapping a police officer. Nick was stopped for a traffic violation and while the officer was pulling him out of the car, his gun went off and discharged into the ground. The events that followed after became a nightmare for Nick. Prior to his trial, he was immediately placed in Solitary Confinement and told he faced life in prison. The brutality of being isolated with no hope for release affected Nick's mental state and caused him to scheme up a plan to escape. The Quakers believed that Solitary Confinement would lead to penitence and reform, however isolation such as Solitary Confinement can also lead to mental breakdowns. Nick's isolation caused him to think up a scheme to set him free. In his mind, he believed that if he could escape the Solitary Confinement, he would be able to be released on bail. If he were set free on bail, he would then be able to run. Nick decided to make up a story about someone he thought was dead. He blamed them for a recent homicide that occurred that was highly publicized in the newspaper. He truly thought if he "cooperated" and told this story, he would be released on bail. It backfired, which in turn, caused the authorities to turn toward Nick as the actual murderer. Twenty-two years of torture and mental anguish followed. While Nick was acquitted of the original charges, new ones were issued and Nick received the Death Penalty and was sent off to die in Huntingdon Prison.

Huntingdon Prison is located in Central Pennsylvania. While incarcerated at Huntingdon, Nick lost the best years of his life. He describes Huntingdon Prison as one of the "worst prisons ever known in the United States." Although Nick was a high school drop out, in prison, he used his time wisely, when he could to better educate himself and to prove his innocence. In 1994, eleven years after Nick was incarcerated, the State of Pennsylvania took away the education grants for those incarcerated. For those who are guilty, this didn't make any sense to keep them uneducated. For those who were trying to prove their innocence, it made it more difficult.

Huntingdon Prison is the same institution where Mumia Abul-Jamal was also on Death Row. Mumia Abul-Jamal sums it all up in the Angela Davis book, Are Prisons Obsolete. Mumia is quoted as saying, "What societal interest is served by prisoners who remain illiterate? What social benefit is there in ignorance? How are people corrected while imprisoned if their education is outlawed? Who profits other than the prison establishment itself from stupid prisoners?" Another question can be asked here and that is, how can one prove their innocence when all their rights and liberties are taken away?

Solitary Confinement and living on Death Row can take a toll on one if they are guilty of the crime. It's doubled and tripled when those incarcerated in these circumstances are actually innocent. The effect of this type of incarceration on Nick was extremely difficult and depressed him to the point where he actually wanted to die, just to get it over with. In 1993 he was diagnosed with Hepatitis C. In 2000 he was seriously ill and the staff at Greene Prison where he was transferred, overdosed him with Interferon and Ribiviron cocktails, normally prescribed by weight of the patient, his prescription was over the limit. He watched in horror, how others he lived with died a horrible death and he didn't want to die that way so he wrote to the appeals judge where he had an active appeal and asked to be executed in December of 2002. Living on Death Row had finally taken its toll on Nick. He was diagnosed and labeled as psychotic and just couldn't take it anymore. Many concur that Solitary Confinement and Death Row is a cruel method of punishment for those who are guilty, not including those who are innocent. Angela Davis also makes the assertion that "Today, aside from death, solitary confinement-next to torture, or as a form of torture-is considered the worst form of punishment imaginable."

Nick's attorney then took up his cause and fought for DNA testing to prove his innocence. All of the DNA tests he took proved inconclusive and the prosecutor finally dropped the case in 2003. Nick was released in 2004 "Nolle prosequi", which means no longer prosecuted. However, they can resurrect the charges at any time if new evidence develops. Nick says he is vulnerable now because he is part of the Three Strikes You're Out clause and is concerned that if he is arrested again, no matter how minor the crime, he will be incarcerated for life. Therefore, upon his release, he moved out of the country into England. He has come back recently to visit his family in Southwest Philadelphia, but he feels much safer in England.

Two of the goals of sanctioning were met in Nick's case, at least for the time being while he was considered "guilty". Incapacitation and Deterrence is supposed to maximize public safety by forcibly taking away the capacity of an individual to further commit an act of violence or crime. Deterrence discourages the individual from committing further crimes. Obviously, Nick's incarceration prevented him from committing further acts of crime and deterred him since he was incarcerated. Receiving the death penalty puts fear in the mind of the convicted from recurring the incident and if carried through, eliminates the possibility of him/her being a repeat offender. But what if they are innocent?

Retributive Justice justifies punishments for crimes committed. The old "eye for an eye" system forces those incarcerated to receive punishment no matter how harsh, for the crime they allegedly committed. An alternative for this measure is Restorative/Rehabilitative Justice.

These theories would work to repair the harm caused by the crime, rehabilitate the offender and ready him/her for reintegration back into society. In Nick's case, incapacitation sure did prevent him from doing other crimes and it deterred him too. But was incapacitation necessary for minor crimes of drug offenses? Retributive Justice was justifying the punishment he was receiving, IF he was guilty of the crime. However Retributive Justice almost took his life away unjustly. Restorative and Rehabilitative Justice failed Nick immensely. Upon his release, his was quickly thrown back into society without the proper preparations. He was put in a society where modern technology was first and foremost. He has learned on his own how to navigate through it but it takes its toll on him sometimes. His innocence clouds the effect on how his incarceration may have affected him if he were guilty. But through his innocence and ultimate release, he should have been afforded the opportunity to participate in a program that would restore and rehabilitate him better.

In conclusion, it is apparent that the prison system is flawed for those that are guilty and especially for those who are innocent and wrongly incarcerated. One form of punishment such as the prison system cannot combat the multitude of problems or correct society's problems. A system of punishing someone should not be the major concern of criminal justice. It should be a combination of different strategies that focuses on reshaping the social concepts of our society that prevents or rehabilitates individuals before crime is committed, and before innocent people are incarcerated.

Angela Davis concurs and states in her book, "Rather, positing decarceration as our overarching strategy, we would try to envision a continuum of alternatives to imprisonment-demilitarization of schools, revitalization of education at all levels, a health system that provides free physical and mental care to all, and a justice system based on reparation and reconciliation rather than retribution and vengeance." Perhaps if we had this system in place, those like Nick would not have been incarcerated and those who are incarcerated, may not have been lost in the justice system to sit, rot and wither away. Through Nick's harrowing experiences, he wants to ensure that what happened to him, never happens to anyone else. Today, he works feverishly on reforming the prison system and trying to help those who are innocent, find the right channels to help set them free before it's too late. Today, Nick tirelessly strives to better the system and one day hopefully he'll succeed.