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CHS Students Discuss Social Justice Issues with Formerly Incarcerated People
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April 9, 2024Catholic High School students learned about social justice issues through the eyes of formerly incarcerated people in the Baton Rouge area as they sat with them at tables and intently discussed issues, asked questions, and laughed at a Teach-In at Catholic High School in Baton Rouge.
The event, held in March, was sponsored by the Office of Life, Peace and Justice of the Diocese of Baton Rouge, the Jesuit Social Research Institute (JSRI) in Loyola, the Louisiana Parole Project, and CHS.
The students and the formerly incarcerated persons discussed and reflected on how Catholic social teachings and how the Christian faith can end mass incarceration and reform the broken criminal justice system. The students were challenged to consider their response to what they learned that day.
Dr. Susan Weishar, policy and research fellow of the JSRI, highlighted the problems of mass incarceration.
At the end of 2023, the United States led the world in the number of incarcerated people with almost 1.8 million people in prison, statistics show, according to Weishar. Among the nation’s states, Louisiana is “off the charts” when it comes to the number of incarcerated people at 1,000 per 100,000 people, noted Weishar, who added there are a disproportionate number of African Americans imprisoned.
Top right photo: CHS students were attentive to the messages of their table’s formerly incarcerated speakers. Photo by Debbie Shelley | The Catholic Commentator
Weishar explained during times when the crime rate rises, such as during the Covid pandemic, people seek harsher sentencing laws, without a correlating reduction when the crime rate is down. Therefore, the percentage of people aged 55 and older in prison has grown.
Above photo: Pictured are participants at the CHS Teach-In. Photo provided by Susan Weishar
“Because of this so many people die in prison in Louisiana because of mandatory life without parole, including the hospice ward at Angola (Louisiana State Penitentiary), where several of our (formerly imprisoned) speakers today volunteered,” said Weishar.
Everyone should be held accountable, especially if they harm someone in breaking the law, emphasized Weishar.
“Everyone deserves to be saved, they are all children of God, and they are precious in God’s eyes,” she added. “However, there are ways of holding people accountable that do not involve incarcerating them forever.”
After Weishar’s presentation, the speakers shared their stories of determination and commitment to obtain their freedom, their growth in faith, and commitment to live a better life once released from prison.
One speaker, Herman, was sentenced on charges of second-degree murder at 15 years old. He served 27 years at Angola before being released and integrated back into society “the way it is now” with the help of the Louisiana Parole Project.
“My message was about decisions and choices,” said Herman. “Small bad decisions lead to large bad decisions and they push you farther away from God, the teachers, and what your family taught you when growing up. And that redemption is real and in order to be forgiven you have to forgive.”
Herman, who was a fallen-away Catholic, refamiliarized himself with the Catholic faith and enrolled in Ministry and Theology courses at Angola. He helped lead youth confirmation retreats.
“The process was amazing,” said Herman. “When the kids first came, they were apprehensive and scared. Once they got there and got to know us, they became comfortable and asked questions. And being around us, they could see that we were people who made bad choices instead of a number.”
Speaking about his experience with the CHS students, Herman smiled and said, “We had a good time.”
Briggs Bargas, a CHS senior, appreciated one speaker’s lesson about the weighing of good deeds against bad deeds during judgement after death.
“Mr. Emerson told us that his grandma has this analogy: ‘All of your good deeds are weighed in feathers and your bad deeds are weighed in stones,’” said Bargas.
Formerly incarcerated people shared their experiences of their time in prison and how they overcome obstacles and now live a fuller life at a Teach-In at Catholic High School. Photo by Debbie Shelley | The Catholic Commentator
Catholics represent their faith daily, and there’s a lot of connotations to what they say and do and how they represent the faith to others, Bargas pointed out.
“That scale is kind of a tangible representation of the ideas that we hold ourselves up to and our strong moral compass,” said Bargas.
Danny Woods, also a CHS senior, said his table’s speaker told them that the community helped him transform his life.
“He talked about how he found that the prison system wasn't very helpful, and to set himself straight it took his conversion to where he actually was able to become Christian. He took all his negative energy that he was using, and his lack of fear and he turned that into something positive for when he made it out of prison,” he said.
That was Demetricy’s experience in her own spiritual transformation.
Being in “the wrong place at the wrong time,” Demetricy was 24 years-old when she was sentenced to 25 years in prison for second-degree murder, which she said was the same sentence as the person she was with who committed the crime.
Demetricy delved into theology classes from Baptist Theological Seminary Louisiana while at Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women in St. Gabriel. She obtained her freedom in March, and looked vibrant in a picture taken of her in May 2023 in which she held up a bouquet of flowers in her right hand and her Bachelor’s Degree in Christian Ministry in her left.
“This is my first time for an event like this,” said Demetricy. “It was eye-opening. I’ve learned a lot, and I was able to help. The students were like sponges, (soaking everything in).”
Speaking from personal experience, Demetricy strongly urged students to leave when a situation doesn’t feel right because “trouble is easy to get into and hard to get out of.”
Even though the transition has been challenging, Demetricy looks forward to that challenge.
“By the grace of God I have been making the right decisions and navigating this new life because everything has changed from 25 years ago,” said Demetricy.
