Josh Rushing

DYING INSIDE

The New York Times this morning has a front-page piece about the increasing power prosecutors have in extracting guilty pleas from defendants without going to trial. 

After decades of new laws to toughen sentencing for criminals, prosecutors have gained greater leverage to extract guilty pleas from defendants and reduce the number of cases that go to trial, often by using the threat of more serious charges with mandatory sentences or other harsher penalties.

These tougher sentences have led to a boom in elderly inmates in US prisons. The fastest growing segment of prisoners is those who are 50 and older. In Oklahoma they expect that group to increase by 45% a year for the foreseeable future. For the Fault Lines episode above we gained access to prisons across the US and were shocked by what we found…

I’ve posted this once before, but I’ve gained a lot of followers in the last few weeks and with the Troy Davis story in the headlines today, it seemed relavent to put it out there one more time.

Feel free to share your thoughts about the episode. I’ll do my best to respond to every reply… 

Last year Fault Lines traveled to Oklahoma where we gained access to death row:

To interview condemned inmate Michael Selsor:

We were Michael’s first visitors in more than ten years. He told us last June that he would see “this Christmas, but probably not next.” His last appeal was denied in October, so now he’s waiting for a date to be executed.

We also interviewed a number of families that have been effected by murder and had to deal with the death penalty in different ways.

It was one of the more difficult films I’ve been a part of. I cried during three of the interviews. They are stories and people I will never forget.

The result is an episode, of which I am very proud, on an extremely complex and gravely important story.

What “life” in prison really means…

The Washington Post has a front page (at least on their iPad version) review of a new documentary called “Serving Life” that airs tonight on the Oprah Winfrey Network. From the trailer, it looks really good. It’s such a tough, but important issue. I filmed a similar story last year (above) called “Dying Inside” with producer, Jeremy Young, and cinematographer, Snorre Wik. We gained access to eight prisons in three states: Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and New York. We interviewed one prisoner who was 100 years old (he has since passed away); gained exclusive access to an entire wing dedicated to inmates with Alzheimers; and witnessed sincere and surprising acts of compassion. Here are a few photos from the journey:

Inmate staring out of his cell at the Dick Conner Correctional Facility, Oklahoma.

Convicted child molester at James Crabtree Correctional Facility, Oklahoma.

Elderly Inmates are often victimized by younger, stronger prisoners. Inmates inside Dick Conner Correctional Facility, Oklahoma.

Inmates at Dick Conner Correctional Facility, Oklahoma.

Mary Rowe: convicted murderer, one-time prison escapee, grandmother and published poet. Mabel Bassett Correctional Facility, Oklahoma. 

Inmate, Joseph Harp Correctional Facility.

Stroke victim and inmate, Bobby Moore. Dick Conner Correctional Facility, Oklahoma.

Inmate with Alzheimer’s in Fishkill Correctional Facility, New York. Often when I take a photo of someone I will show them their image on the screen on the back of my camera. The first inmate I did that with in the Alzheimer’s wing got very upset because he didn’t recognize himself. I believe it was partially because of the disease, but also because there are no mirrors allowed in the facility, so he hadn’t seen his reflection in nearly thirty years and didn’t realize how the decades had effected his appearance. 

Willie Prenell. Convicted of first degree murder in 1977. He’s spent most of his life in prison for killing his friend Kieth Thompson in Oklahoma City.

Inmate watching the sunset from the yard at James Crabtree Correctional Facility, Oklahoma.