***Of 249,400 jail and prison inmates in 2004 (latest numbers available)(Source: U.S. Dept. of Justice):
51,800 (20.8%) are Hispanic
65,900 (26.4%) are White
112,500 (45.1%) are Black
***1 out of 20 jail inmates are Black, and 1 out of 180 are White (Source: Human Rights Watch)
***In the 1990's, there were more Black men between 20-29 in jail, than in college (Source: Craig Haney Ph.D. and Phillip Zimbardo Ph.D.)
***Most drug offenders are White, but there are more Black men in prison on drug offenses than White men (Human Rights Watch)
Often, the truest words spoken, are those that come from our young black people. It is a pity that many of those words are spoken from experience with the criminal justice system. Marcus Gregory has one of those stories to tell, and he related that to a recent community awareness seminar, sponsored by the Johnson City-Washington County chapter of the NAACP, in an effort to educate other young black men how NOT to follow in his footsteps:
"My name is Marcus Gregory.. I'm 21 years old. I've been incarcerated for the last 6 years, for a first degree murder charge, that occurred when I was 15 here in Johnson City. I've been at the Washington County Detention Center for 4 years now, and I did 2 years down at the Juvenile Detention Center at Johnson City."
"I've basically been all through that jail in the worst part, in the max and the low-security they got there. I got an 18-year sentence on manslaughter, 15 at manslaughter, and 3 at 30 per cent for aggravated assault."
"Mr. (Ralph) Davis (NAACP President) has been there for me the whole time, helping me out with the case. I contacted him about 4 or 5 years ago. because I felt the District Attorney and my lawyer were in cahoots with each other, and was working against me. But come to find out, that wasn't true. I wound up doing 18 years out of the whole deal."
"I was involved in a drug-trafficking ring in New York, I'm originally from Brooklyn, New York. I was involved in it at the age of 14, transporting drugs back and forth from Florida and North Carolina, Tennessee, Boston, and New York."
"The guy I was working for, he got a little jealous and aggravated at me because I decided to leave him alone and go on my own two feet and sell my own dope down here in Johnson City. We got into a dispute over the case, and unfortunately, he wound up being killed in the process."
"I'd known him for about 10-15 years.. he actually watched me grow up in Brooklyn, and picked me in the process.. picked me in New York to come out here and help him transport his dope. He convinced my mother that he was helping me with a business that he had been running in North Carolina and Tennessee, moving furniture, so she let me come out here with him. I wound up being out there on Wilson Avenue every day for about a year and a half, selling dope."
"It was an experience for me, definitely was. I went through a residential program that Judge Cupp was talking about at the County Jail. I got to sit down with Mr. Charles Bellefont for a little while, and I found out some things about myself, while being in that program, that I honestly didn't see at the time. He kept telling me that I had "tunnel vision" the whole time that I was out there on the street, and it took me about six months to really realize that before I graduated the program. It took me a while to finally realize my problems and my issues, working with Mr. Bellefont."
"I'm currently still in the jail (system). I got 18 years, but I'm on a temporary furlough right now, Mr. Davis helped me get that. It's been a struggle.. it's kinda hard having to be in there, every day, having to have another person, another man, tell you when to sleep, when you can watch TV, what you can eat, what you can't eat, how many visitors you can have, who you can talk to. I've been blessed not to have become institutionalized by being in there the last 6 years, but I'm just trying to integrate as smoothly as possible back into society, and I've had Mr. Davis help me out with that. To the fullest, he's been there.. he's been more of a father figure than my real father, and I'm just happy to be here. I just figured I'd tell my story.. I'm not used to speaking, but hopefully I can help somebody else."
RALPH DAVIS (President of the Johnson City-Washington County NAACP Chapter):
"Since Marcus has been incarcerated. the programs that Judge Cupp had been talking about, he has completed those programs. He also has worked on his G.E.D., and the only part he lacks is the math part, and he's about to take that test. He has done a remarkable job about rehabilitating himself, and it's just unfortunate what happened, but it shows what can happen once you decide to work within the system, and make the system work for you."
TOMORROW: WHENEVER AFRICAN-AMERICANS GET STOPPED, ONE NOTED DEFENSE ATTORNEY SAYS, IT'S EASY TO MAKE ONE BIG MISTAKE, AND THEY ALWAYS MAKE IT. JOHNSON CITY DEFENSE LAWYER TOM JESSE HAS THE "LOW DOWN" ON HOW TO AVOID THE "LOCKDOWN," PLUS OTHER THINGS TO DO IMMEDIATELY AFTER ENCOUNTERING LAW ENFORCEMENT AND THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM.
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