“Hope is essential.” (Lester Holt)

This declaration near the close of “Life Inside” on tv struck a chord with me. I agree with its truth both inside and outside the walls of maximum-security prison.

“Life Inside” is a powerful episode of NBC’s “Dateline.” NBC News and USA Today recently collaborated for an in-depth look at criminal justice reform and mass incarceration in America.

This news article last week by Lester Holt is part of the NBC News series, “Justice for All.”

“Lester Holt: What I learned from spending two nights in a maximum-security prison; The anchor of “NBC Nightly News” embedded with inmates at the notorious Louisiana State Penitentiary, known as Angola.” (NBC News)

More than half a century ago Angola Prison earned the nickname as “the deadliest prison in the South.” Now Angola remains the largest maximum-security prison in the country with a higher rate of incarceration than almost anywhere else. Holt went inside Angola “to see mass incarceration in its extreme.” (Holt)

Louisiana dropped from having the highest to second highest incarceration rate in the USA since in recent years Oklahoma rose to having the highest.

I thought Holt’s stories of Juvenile Lifers in Angola were especially thought-provoking. These men were youth when they committed their crimes, and many are now elderly (and dying due to terminal illnesses and old age).

Holt’s tv episode, news article, and interviews considered punishment, retribution, rehabilitation, prison reform, etc. Perhaps they leave us with more questions than answers, but they should make us think about the matter that needs to be considered. I like that he included hope as an element — an “essential” element — in this important story.

Holt learned a lot from inmates (some who will parole and some who never will) and also correctional staff….

“During my visit I learned a lot about the value of hope, like the excitement generated when incarcerated men faced the parole board. I was surprised to see corrections officers quietly rooting for prisoners they thought particularly deserving of release. Some even confided their disappointment when those inmates were turned down for parole….

I was equally surprised to hear from some of those officers that removing the possibility of parole makes prison more dangerous for all. They told me the introduction of programs and learning opportunities for prisoners, especially lifers, has improved conditions at Angola and made their own lives appreciably better.

At the prison’s automobile repair program I met a lifer by the name of John Sheehan, who teaches job skills to men who are nearing the end of their sentences. Sheehan will never leave Angola, but he tells me teaching others has given him validation.

‘You know that you’ve done something, and your life is worthwhile,’ he told me.

On the outside, criminal justice reforms are often weighed against hard data points on recidivism risk and crime. Living on the inside, I found it to be a complex world filled with contradictions and still rooted in punishment but aspiring to be a place of rehabilitation. A work in progress that is now getting the attention it demands.” (Holt)

Thanks, Mr. Holt, for your sensitivity and willingness to explore and share a powerful “real life” story and your discernment and wisdom to recognize an essential element in all our lives.

In my mind I still hear an echo of Holt’s words, “Hope is essential,” and I add a heartfelt AMEN!

“Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing so that you will abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” (Romans 15:13)

“Remember the prisoners as though in prison with them….” (Hebrews 13:3)