"The reason I’m here is because I served 23 years in federal prison. I got out January 10, 2020. Since I’ve been home, I’m a chaplain at Mississippi Department of Corrections. Almost two years in July," Maurice Clifton said.
Clifton, a Mound Bayou native, spoke about his experience as a formerly incarcerated person and a current advocate. Others told their stories, like death row exonerees, lawyers and activists. All of them have dedicated their lives to criminal justice reform in the Magnolia State. The Mississippi Center for Reentry hosted the Mississippi Day of Empathy on March 29. The organization’s founder, Cynetra Freeman, said the work starts now to pass criminal justice reform policies in the state’s next legislative session.
"I hope that in 2023 that we will see more criminal justice reform bills passed. We’ll see more of us coming together to unite, to advocate for a better criminal justice system here in Mississippi," Freeman said.
Freeman is formerly incarcerated herself and knows firsthand the barriers people face when leaving prison and reentering society.
"I had to make a choice between either pay my parole fee or go get me something to eat. Obviously I had to pay my parole fee because if not, I was going to go back to prison," she said.
Those types of difficult choices are what advocates are seeking to eliminate in the Mississippi Day of Empathy – to make reentry easier and to increase rehabilitation for people in prison. This event is part of a nationwide effort for criminal justice reform, leading up to the National Day of Empathy, taking place in Washington D.C. on April 5.
