Subject: Can You Help Save Barry Massey's Life?

[eridani]

A life without the possibility of parole sentence is a peculiar and ironic oxymoron.

It is actually a death sentence carried out over a long, slow period of time. It requires a conclusion that the incarcerated person offers no hope of redemption - that their life has no value, save that of being removed from the rest of us until it expires.

Despite that irony and all that goes with it, that was not always the case. maybe there are instances where that is exactly the right societal punishment. The question is - who is that punishment "right" for?

Juveniles? If so, how young?

At what age is death by confinement is too severe a punishment?

When can we agree that a person was too young to possibly reason that what they were doing was wrong?

Is it ever possible to forgive that juvenile and grant them both forgiveness - which does not require freedom - along with grace - which necessitates that if we feel they have earned it - we give them another chance at freedom?

Washington State has already answered some of these questions.

In 1988, by sentencing 13 year-old Barry Massey to life in state prison without the possibility of parole, we gained the distinction of sentencing the youngest person to life without the possibility of parole in the history of the country.

Take a look at Barry's website to determine your thoughts on his worthiness of grace and mercy at this point. His story is certainly riveting.

To me, Barry has certainly earned his freedom with every tool and initiative available to him as a person incarcerated with no clear reason for hope could reach.

Some of you may look at his story and feel Barry is so close to being free that there is no reason to become involved in helping to make the final push.

As part of a team that successfully obtained freedom for Gerald Hankerson, another person with a life without the possibility of parole sentence, my view is that freeing someone in Barry's circumstance illustrates perfectly the difference between a problem and a predicament.

A problem has a solution, a key, an answer - a formula which once found and implemented will unerringly lead to the problem disappearing. Get a bunch of smart people together to find it and a problem is solved. In fact, you don't even need smart people, just one person who is smarter than the problem is complex.

A predicament, however, is something from which there is no solution - no answer, no countermove that extricates the person trapped within.

Only if the person or institution with the power to dissipate the predicament does so can a person be released from a predicament. That is a blend of mercy and grace.

For Barry Massey, that one person with the power to have mercy and issue grace is Governor Christine Gregoire.

For those who champion freedom for Barry, getting her to decide to use her power is Barry's only hope and as the press has already illustrated, Governor Gregoire is very sparing with clemency.

She has revealed no clear pattern under which she will use her power for mercy and grace. This is not an uncommon trait for America's governors.

Despite tenously favorable signs, like a 4 to 1 recommendation for clemency by the state parole and pardons board (and a signal that the lobe holdout will vote yes in December at Barry's next hearing) Barry's situation is growing more complex, not less so.

Governor Gregoire is on a short list for an appointment to become the next Solicitor General of the United States should Elena Kagan, the current holder of that job, be appointed to the Supreme Court.

Both things are very likely to happen, certainly before December.

That scenario is a completely unpredictable dynamic. The governor may decide, prior to leaving office, to make a flurry of affirmative decisions including one favorable to Barry.

Or she may decide not to decide, ostensiby leaving that decision to her successor as Governor.

Even if Barry's next hearing, which was recently delayed from last month to this December - we believe at the behest of Pierce County prosecutors - results in a unanimous recommendation for Barry's freedom, there is no reason to believe that will have a decisive impact on the lieutenant governor.

Besides all of the above, should another high profile violent event occur, that could delay any possibility of Barry's release, putting additional pressure on Governor Gregoire to be even more sparing in granting clemency.

There is only one tactic we can put into play to get to that stage of grace - that is to create a much wider network of support for Barry and to do so now.

We need to get state and county legislators to lobby Governor Gregoire to release Barry now with letters, phone calls, personal conversations and anything that creates a bigger groundswell momentum.

I believe it is possible to get the broader faith community to do the same if we have a good grass roots network pushing them to do so.

All this must be done with the faith that we can succeed. A group of us, all taking steps together, can move toward grace and mercy for Barry.

We've done it before with others. We can do it again.

I am not seeking to strategize this effort or supervise its organization.

I am just asking that if you are willing to do something, anything, please respond to me so we can see how many justice soldiers we can muster. There are some immediate steps we can take.

Warmest Wishes,
Le Roi Brashears
206-347-0956


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