SJA students visit with former inmates during Teach-in

The table conversations between students of St. Joseph’s Academy in Baton Rouge and formerly incarcerated people in the school’s Fife Student Commons were punctuated with bold questioning, active listening and laughter during a Teach-In on mass incarceration on April 26.

The evening was a collaborative effort with SJA, Loyola University in New Orleans and the Diocese of Baton Rouge.

Dr. Sue Weishar, policy and research fellow of the Jesuit Social Research Institute at Loyola University, discussed the high number of imprisoned.

“I think it’s important that we know that the United States is the world leader in incarceration,” said Weishar.

There were two million prisoners nationwide according to data released in October 2021 by World Prison Brief.

Weishar talked about how population trends correlate with higher incarceration rates. Following World War II, war-weary soldiers looked to settle down and the “Baby Boom generation” was born. As the “boomers’” children grew up in the 1970s, there was a rapid rise in crime.

As crime rates increased, policy makers reacted because people were “rightly afraid,” stated Weishar.

“I lived in New Orleans and yes there was definitely crime,” she said. “But the policies enacted were very short-sighted, very imputative and did not look at the impact it could have on a wider society.”

The length of imprisonment for different types of crime started going up, according to Weishar.

Louisiana far exceeds the incarceration rate per 100,000 people of founding NATO countries, at 1,094, according to data from the Prison Policy Initiative. The non-profit organization researches harm of mass criminalization, and then sparks advocacy campaigns to create a more just society.

Louisiana also has the largest African American incarceration rate per 100,000, at 2,749.

The good news is that Louisiana’s inmate population was down 25% in 2022 but continues to lead in many incarceration trends, according to Weishar.

Ryan Hallford, SJA executive director of mission integration, discussed the church’s view concerning incarceration.

Any offense against human dignity, which includes living in subhuman conditions, arbitrary imprisonment and treating laborers as profit is not in accord with church teachings, according to Hallford. While people should be held accountable for their actions, the church teaches there cannot be a system that perpetuates human indignities against prisoners.

Mercy is always a functional justice, Hallford pointed out. It involves looking for ways to build healthy relationships and repair disorder.

“We don’t throw away; we don’t walk away. Rather we have to develop methods by which we are giving people an opportunity to change,” Hallford said.

During roundtable discussions, the students heard the stories of formerly incarcerated people and asked questions.

One of the ex-inmates was Sandra Starr, who was convicted and sentenced to life in prison in 1994 because of a crime she committed while in a relationship in which she suffered domestic violence.

She said she was in a relationship as a teenager with a man who later abused her.

Following several years of a fruitless search to find justice and the violence escalating, Starr stood her ground. During an altercation in which the man abused her to the point she feared for her life, she grabbed a gun. A struggled ensued during which the man was shot and killed, according to Starr.

“I went to jail that day. I left my two babies at home, they were four and seven years old,” said Starr. “That was a heart wrenching thing to get in the back of a police car and looking at the children that you had to leave, that you tried so hard all those years to protect.”

At 23, Starr said she felt helpless and was not being heard by the criminal justice system. She was sentenced to life in prison at the Louisiana Correctional Institute for Women at St. Gabriel.

“Walking into LCIW was the scariest thing of my life because we watch this type of thing on TV, not actually walk it,” Starr said. “I felt I was being victimized again. I couldn’t get the image out of my head of those two little faces that I left behind.”

Starr worked with the prison chaplain and earned a degree in theology from the New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and became a peer minister. The Louisiana Parole Project and the Visiting Room helped her achieve her dream of freedom.

She was paroled after 25 years in jail and joyfully reunited with her children and grandchildren outside the LCIW gates.

She continues to provide messages of hope for other victims as well. She also works with 12 Keys Ministry in Baker assisting senior citizens in the area and is married to a loving husband.

“I get to build relationships every day and live my life as a free Christian woman,” said Starr.

Students also heard from Louis “Big Lou” Cruz. He served 40 years of a life sentence at Louisiana State Penitentiary at Angola before he was released on parole in 2021 with help from the Louisiana Parole Project.

While in prison, Cruz helped others. Artistically talented prisoners often donate hobby craft items to various organizations to auction off at fundraisers. He worked with Sister Helen Cahill FMOL to donate items to raise funds for Our Lady of the Lake Children’s Hospital in Baton Rouge.

Cruz assists with fundraisers for the Knights of Columbus of St. Aloysius Church in Baton Rouge, where he is a member. He also works with the Louisiana Parole Project.

“Our mission is to show there are moral people that come out of prison and give back to society and that people in prison can give back. And that means a lot to me,” said Cruz.

SJA junior Chloe Sandefer was among the students who left the Teach-In with a firery passion to work for social justice.

“When you give people life without parole, some don’t get an opportunity to show they can convert and change,” Sandefer said. “That’s just not right. I want to help people and make an impact and do what I can do for a fair criminal justice system.”

Sister Chris Pologa CSJ, director of pastoral care and service coordinator of the evening, said the Teach-In broadened, deepened and enriched the understanding of the Catholic faith and the Sisters of St. Joseph’s charism of unifying love.

“The Sisters’ of St. Joseph charism of serving the dear neighbor without distinction and the Jesuit dedication to academic excellence informed by real-life experience was evident throughout the night,” said Sister Chris. “We used current data on mass incarceration, personal stories and our Catholic social justice teachings to come up with action plans. The conversations around the tables were rich and reflected a variety of opinions and insights allowing for a sincere dialogue on a contemporary topic.

“The richness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ calls us to respond whole-heartedly to the needs and issue of our times.”