Warden Michele Farrell concurs. “It can be troublesome at times. We do have a staff shortage. So, a lot of times, [inmates] are secured in their cells for extended periods of time.”
Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility is part of a 25-acre compound that houses about 8,000 inmates a year. They usually are kept there for two years or less, either serving short-term sentences or awaiting trials. Amanda Cortes, however, has been incarcerated in a female section of the compound for five years, awaiting a murder trial.
“Some days, I really wonder if I’m ever going to go home,” she says tearfully. “To sit here all this time, I’m like, ‘Well, where are you God? Do you not hear me? What’s going on?’ And to hear that he’s with me and he’s sending his people, it’s just like, “OK, you do hear me. You do comfort me.’”
The divine emissary Cortes is referring to is Pope Francis, who will visit Curran-Fromhold on Sunday, Sept. 27 — the last day of his trip to America.
Cortes is among roughly 100 prisoners who will meet with the pope, and she says the buzz has been building. “The ladies are very, very excited. … They’re like, ‘Oh, I gotta get my hair done. I gotta put some makeup on,’” Cortes laughs. “From commissary,” she quickly adds.
The male inmates are in on the action too. They are constructing a chair for the pope to sit on and take back to the Vatican with him, a tradition at many of the institutions the pope visits.
The pope’s visit will also come with another rare treat for the inmates — they are allowed to invite family members to join them.
Sakyra Savage and Ruth Colon, both being held for parole violations, have been invited to meet with the pope because of their work with the religious community in jail. They do not see their families often.
“I had tears falling when I told my aunt that I chose her and my daughter to come,” says Savage. “It just made me feel so good to make her wish come true.”
Colon, who has struggled with addiction in the past, said her mother was proud when she was invited to share the moment. “It feels really good to be able to offer them something positive,” says Colon.
No one knows yet what the pope’s plans are when he is inside the jail. But his views on criminal justice reform are no secret — and sometimes controversial.
Last year, he called for an end to solitary confinement, the death penalty and life imprisonment. Just days after his election, on Holy Thursday 2013, he washed and kissed the feet of inmates at a Roman prison. And this summer, he visited the most violent prison in Bolivia, telling the prisoners he sees no difference between them and himself — everyone is a sinner.
Criminal justice reform advocate Bryan Stevenson, author of the best-selling book “Just Mercy,” says that the pope’s trip to Curran-Fromhold is “enormously significant.”
“What does it say about the pope, that he is interested in visiting these particular facilities, full of violence and violent criminals?” Yahoo Global News Anchor Katie Couric asked Stevenson.
“I think it is really important because we can’t make the kind of change we want to see in society by simply bifurcating the world into violent offenders and nonviolent offenders,” replied Stevenson. “I think it’s critically important that the pope wants to revive that, wants to stand next to the people who’ve been cast aside, cast away, thrown away, and say, ‘No — this person’s life has value and meaning.’”
Of the 10.2 million prisoners around the world today, 2.2 million are in the United States. America’s prison population is far and away the highest in the world — Russia and China, the next two closest — barely come close. Since 1980, America’s prison population has quadrupled.
Stevenson says this is in large part due to the “war on drugs” and mandatory minimum sentences. “I think we’ve gotten to the point in our nation’s history where we recognize there’s a big problem — we’ve gone too far,” he says. “The Bureau of Justice now predicts that 1 in 3 black male babies born in this country is expected to go to jail or prison. That’s a horrific statistic … lots of people are motivated to see us end mass incarceration, and for perhaps the first time in 40 years, there is a consensus that this is a problem we have to address.”
“I think [The pope] brings great influence,” says Giorla. “And he may be able to reach people who would not normally feel that the criminal justice system needs reform. As someone who’s been deeply involved in this for a long time, I know that we have to reconsider the way we adjudicate people, the opportunities or the options we give them as part of sentencing, when they’re found guilty. We have to look at incarceration more as a reason or, I would say, a chance to reeducate. A chance to resupply a person with resources and opportunity. He brings that message.”
While Amanda Cortes desperately wants to see systematic change, knowing that the pope even cares about her issues and would pay her a visit moves her to tears. “He’s probably never been locked up. So it’s just like, you really care. You’re really willing to speak about these issues that no one wants to touch. I think that’s awesome. I’m grateful.”