THE EDITOR
Dear Sir:
“The Quality Of Mercy Is Not Strained”

I have borrowed the above quotation from the English poet, William Shakespeare, to comment on last week’s article in which Mr. Conrad Gumbs,

the Superintendent of Prisons, made some interesting comments about the parole of prisoners. He said pointedly that once rehabilitated, prisoners should not be allowed to rot in jail and should be paroled. I think this is all the more of interest since in the past jailers seemed to take delight in locking up people and “throwing away the key.”

In a small, but advancing society like Anguilla, we need to be educated about many things and I believe that the Government, the court system and, indeed, all the law enforcement agencies concerned with civil liberties, have a role to play in public education.

My Church recently visited the prison and I was astonished to see so many young men incarcerated there for various offences and serving varying periods of confinement. I looked at them, especially those with long sentences, and felt sorry for them. Make no mistake: they must pay their debt to society and while in prison, they should take every available opportunity to reform their lives so that upon release they could be productive citizens working in jobs they learnt while serving time.

I am aware that in any community hostilities can run deep, and sometimes it is difficult to forgive a person for some offence about which society frowns or as a result of which a victim and that person’s family may have experienced much hurt. I also know that there are some offenders who show no remorse and remain unrepentant, but there are some who are truly sorry and want to make a change, want to re-shape and re-live their lives. I have ministered to some of them. The question is: do we help these latter set or do we want them to rot in jail even when they follow the prison’s rehabilitation programmes?

I think Anguilla is on the right track with its proposed Parole of Prisoners and Probation Bills and we must identify with other countries in this regard. Of course, it must be understood that those prisoners who are dangerous and therefore a threat to society should always find it difficult to apply for and gain parole. Like the Christian, only those who earnestly seek repentance and reformation, and demonstrate a commitment to right living, should be eligible for parole.

Certainly, we must be careful but let us like Shakespeare say: “The quality of mercy is not strained; It falleth from Heaven as gentle rain.” From a Scriptural point of view, we can also learn to forgive those who “trespass against us” and to “forgive our brothers unto 70 times seven.”

Churchman & Christian

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