One of ‘least of these’

Jack Greene will be executed by the state of Arkansas in the coming month, and I am wondering if that is what we really want to do. As a citizen, the state executes in my name.

Inspired by Sister Helen Prejean’s book Dead Man Walking, I first met Jack in 2009. Jack and I became friends over the last eight years, mostly by letter and a few phone calls. I do not think Jack had another friend in the world, so I knew my contact was healing in some way to him. Jesus told us to have compassion on the least among us.

Jack told me about his past. He admits his crimes. He suffers incredible psychic pain from what he experiences. He often faints from anxiety, and frequently his face was covered in dried blood from passing out in his cell.

Jack was the 13th of 13 kids. His father killed himself in the home when Jack was 18 months old. The family then moved into a chicken coop on Jack’s grandfather’s place. His grandfather punished Jack mercilessly. At age 11, he sent Jack to reform school at the infamous Stonewall Jackson Reformatory, where Jack was beaten and sexually abused.

I wonder if I too would have been broken in such a childhood. I believe prison should include healing, not just punishment. Jack Greene is also a child of God, one of the least of these.

DAVID LEWIS

Fayetteville