Live from Death Row

I went to an amazing event today. The newly formed Penn Law chapter of the Lawyers' Guild hosted a call with a former death row inmate who had his sentence commuted to life imprisonment by former IL Governor Ryan. Gov. Ryan commuted the sentences of all the death row inmates in Illinois before leaving office. He pardoned a few inmates as well.

The man on the phone today was "Cortez Brown." I put his name in quotation marks because his real name is Victor Safforld. After police beat and tortured him to get him to sign a statement about his involvmement in two murders, Safforld signed the name "Cortez Brown." As he explained today, he figured that if he signed a fake name, he would be better able to explain to a judge that the statement was false. He thought it would void the statement, like a fake signature voids a check.

The statement was admitted. Safforld couldn't afford a private attorney, so he got a public defender. His public defender had more than 30 active cases and - this is horrific - actually was in trial defending another client at the exact same time that he was defending Safforld. On the phone today Safforld said his lawyer would literally give his opening statement, then leave to go downstairs and give his opening statement in the other trial, then run back upstairs, and so on. The evidence against Safforld was incredibly weak. His lawyer had no time to do any field work. Safforld told his lawyer he was beaten, but this was never investigated. Safforld was convicted and was sentenced to death.

Safforld's story is very compelling and appalling. He is well-spoken. He is funny. He praises the people who work for and volunteer at "Campaign to End the Death Penalty," who have been helping his case since 2000. Safforld has been in jail for 15 years.

I found his words to be so thought-provoking and moving that I thought I'd share some of them with you. There is no knowing his guilt or innocence for certain, I suppose, but maybe that's what makes his story seem all the more terrible. We just don't know what he did, and yet we were willing to kill him. It's depressing how quickly we forget that, whether guilty or innocent, prisoners are human beings too. It's frightening how elusive the truth is.

This was everything I could scribble down during the 45 minute phone call.

Describing the mood when the death row inmates learned that Gov. Ryan had commuted all their sentences:
"It was as though the Chicago Bulls had won their first championship... Everyone was excited and filled with joy... but it was bittersweet... it was like, 'Okay, we won't kill you, but you have to spend the rest of your life in jail as an innocent man.' But where there's life, there's hope."

Explaining why he doesn't care if he's pardoned or simply has his sentence reduced, he simply wants to be free:
"I've seen people go to the execution chamber who have strong innocence claims... however way my freedom comes, I will accept it."

Explaining why sharing his story and having people listen is so important to his case:
"The most powerful asset that we have is out ability to communicate with people who see the system as unjust and who want to change the system... they've started monitoring our mail and made it extremely hard to get on the telephone... do not allow the system to discourage you from communicating with us."

Describing the conditions on death row:
"It's like a cemetary... Everyone there is scheduled for deatj... Nothing can take your mind from the execution chamber, especially when you saw friends of yours go there."

"What we were there for did not mean anything... we had to fight for one another."

"Death row was no different than any other prison. In fact, we had more love and respect for one another because of the seriousness of our cases... They treated us worse than people treat a dog... any way they could do to inconvenience us, the did."

[He also said thaton death row, everyone is in a solitary cell and are only let out of that cell for visitations, which are rare, and for 2 hours of recreation a day. So you spend 22 hours a day in a cell by yourself.]

Describing the night before the execution of one of his friends on death row:
"The night before, he was excited [and upset]... I had to talk to him all night long. I could actually see the death angel pulling on his spirit."

"I had to live with the idea that that may be me one day."

Discussing his education and goals:
"On death row, you can go no further than a GED... [and now it's the same with a life sentence.]... I do self-study... I want to be a master mathematician. I try to learn from the universe itself."

[He also studies a lot of religion, Buddhism and Islam in particular, and has a strong faith in god and a higher power.]

Describing the people from "Campaign to End the Death Penalty:"
"These people embody what I consider to be the spirit of God himself in their activism, not just their words."

His messages to us:
"Please continue to be involved... Whatever you can do to help, it always helps and it's not in vain... We appreciate everything that you do for us... It's a big machine that we're fighting against... and we must continue to fight."

"It's good to fight now because maybe someone you know will become a victim of the criminal justice system... because then you'll wish you'd done more."

"Whatever you do, keept it real, keep it simple, and fight."