INDIANA CLEMENCY UPDATE: “Release Leon Benson Now”
by- TND Correspondant 1•9•21
First published on the Free Leon Benson Facebook page
“It happens [mercy] when you awaken at the level of the heart to compassion [com-passion], shared suffering: experienced participation in the suffering of another person.”—Joseph Campbell
The days are looming closer to when the Indiana Clemency Board (ICB) will issue hearing dates for the pending clemency petition of innocent & progressive prisoner, Leon Benson. Mean while, it is well worth us exploring why Benson deserves relief and the political climate of the 2020 presidential election in which the ICB has to make its decision.
VIOLENCE OR REHABILITATION
It’s difficult to determine what mercy, compassion, & justice looks like today in the state of our legal system. But we know what punishment looks like: 2.4 million citizens currently in prison in the U.$. And in the last 10 years Indiana has lead the nation with a steadily growing prison population.
Indiana is a conservative state where ” tough on crime politics” has been its staple. This comes from an out dated philosophy of “lock’em up & throw away the key.” There is no rehabilitation in using criminal punishment as merely retribution. When facts are that over 70% of those in prison will be release back into society some day.
To date, people come out of prison worse than when they went in. Danielle Sered, director of Common Justice, a Brooklyn based organization that offers alternatives for people charged with violent crimes, make a profound point: “How can prison stop violence when it’s fundamentally violent in of itself?” For example, criminologist have identified four core features of violence in society: 1) Shame, 2) Isolation, 3) Exposure to violence, & 4) The inability to meet one’s economical needs. This is exactly what prison does to all who are confined in it.
Prison has a criminal effect, which not only fails to reduce recidivism, it increases the likelihood of someone causing greater harm upon release. This is not rehabilitation, it’s official violence against the very society they are proclaiming to protect. Violence begets violence. Scholar, civil rights lawyer and author of the New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander wrote in her New York Times column,”Our criminal injustice system lets people off the hook, as they aren’t obligated to answer the victim’s questions, listen to them, honor their pain, express genuine remorse, or do what they can to repair the harm they’ve done…The only thing prison requires is that people stay in their cages and somehow endure the isolation and violence of captivity. Prison deprives everyone concerned—victims and those who have caused harm, as well as impact families and communities—the opportunity to heal, honor their own humanity, and to break cycles of violence that have destroyed far too many lives.”
At worse, prisons can be seen as state and federal, government sponsored violence; and at best, as a temporary means of rehabilitation— how long is too long though?
CLEMENCY POWERS
According to the Indiana Constitution Article 5 § 17 the governor has executive power to grant pardons, reprieves, commutation, or remissions of fines and forfeiture. This process is initiated through the Indiana Parole Board, who is also the Indiana Clemency Board.
The ICB is made up of five members that review petitions of prisoners who are eligible for clemency—those who have served one-third of their sentence or after serving 20 or more years. When all five board members agree to grant clemency, the petition is then sent to the Indiana Governor, Eric Holcomb for the final decision.
In recent memory (1970s-to-present) no Indiana governor has granted an inmate clemency if that inmate wasn’t terminally ill or getting a death sentence commuted to life or a long prison term (cf. Obadjah Ben-Yisryel, Philip Stroud, Darnell Williams). For such discouragement few Indiana prisoners ever pursue clemency. Why isn’t Leon Benson discouraged? What makes his case so different? Well, Benson has maintained absolute innocence since 1998. And it’s unprecedented in the way in which he filed clemency: Leon is asking for justice, not a miracle. Plus, the times we are living are perfect for his request. Through the national protests of 2020, due to the police killings of unarmed Black people, the demands for social justice and prison reform are louder than ever. It only makes sense that Benson’s clemency is aligned with such social and political sentiments.
In addition, if any Indiana governor would be the first to grant such a clemency as Benson’s, then it would have to be the current conservative, Gov. Holcomb, who was elected to a second term in 2021. In 2017 Holcomb granted first pardon of innocence to Keith Cooper, after his predecessor Mike Pence refused to before becoming U.$. Vice President in 2016.
Ironically, in 2020 while at the end of their terms, President Donald Trump and Mike Pence, made presidential history by granting pardons to over 40 federal prisoners. Many of which were wealthy and political allies who were, in fact, guilty of their crimes. This move made a mockery of our ideals of democracy.
This is the very reason that WE, as citizens, must demand Gov. Holcomb and ICB to properly use their executive powers to grant Benson petition as restorative justice. Because for too long these clemency powers have be not been properly utilized for justice and rehabilitation.
REASONS FOR BENSON’S RELEASE
In Benson’s petition he demonstrates that he deserves clemency due to serving 22 yrs in prison for a crime he did not commit—which is most of his adult life. Despite the tragedy of these circumstances he has made overwhelming efforts to better himself.
In an interview w/ me Benson revealed,”I learned that just because I was wrongfully in prison, it didn’t give me an excuse not to keep growing as a human being.”It is extremely easy for anyone to become self righteous while wrongfully incarcerated. Such self righteousness has been known to make people overlook their own flaws and to point the finger at others. Benson became aware of this in himself many years ago while in solitary confinement.
So as evidence of his efforts at growth and rehabilitation, Benson’s petition shows Exhibits A of 40 separate accreditation from him completing many different programs (educational, vocational, spiritual, anger management, and substance abuse); and Exhibit D of the Changing Lives Through Literature, Poetic Justice, Open Door Ministry programs that he created or co-found and facilitated that helped other inmates.
Even more, as evidence of some of his support in the world he presented Exhibit B of 21 separated personal letters from supporters and Exhibit C of an online petition from https://www.change.org/…/eric-j-holcomb-governor-of… with 3,225 signatures. All of which are demanding clemency to be granted.
All the above, plus the fact that he has not had a conduct infraction in over 8 yrs, his omni-remorse for the victim and the victim’s family, and his dynamic reentry plan of success with the support of family, friends, and organizations, is more than enough evidence that Leon Benson should be released immediately.
The world needs his unique experience and leadership in our communities to increase the value of society.
SETTING-A-TONE
The state of Indiana is in a unique position to set the national tone for the restorative justice initiative that is desperately needed to repair our justice system. This will be an atoning; put another way A TONE, to be AT ONE with the interest of humanity and justice.
The Benson case offers state officials a ripe opportunity, not to grant him mercy or a miracle in his clemency, because that should only be bestowed to those who are guilty, but rather, to grant him JUSTICE because of his innocence.