Saturday, December 24, 2011

At Christmas remember those without liberty

Pope John Paul II’s Christmas 2000 message on prisoners is frequently invoked by Pope Benedict:

“Public authorities who deprive human beings of their personal freedom … must realize that they are not masters of the prisoners’ time. In the same way, those who are in detention must not live as if their time in prison had been taken from them completely; it needs to be lived to the full.… In many countries’ prisons, life is very precarious, not to say altogether unworthy of human beings.… In some cases, detention seems to create more problems than it solves. This must prompt rethinking with a view to some kind of reform.… Such a process is based on growth in the sense of responsibility. None of this should be considered utopian.”

Yes, prison is necessary but prisoners are human and entitled to be treated with respect and dignity - even if, or perhaps especially if, they themselves have failed in that duty in the past.

6 comments:

John Prince said...

At this time of year prisoners are the last thing on most people's minds... but not on yours? Which suggests that you are a very thoughtful and compassionate individual. What makes this even more admirable is the fact you are a lawyer.

May the holiday season be an especially joyful and blessed time for you and your family Mr. James Morton.

James C Morton said...

You are very kind. Best for a blessed year!

Anonymous said...

Santa Was in Prison and Jesus Got the Death Penalty

ridenrain said...

I'd highlight political prisoners like China's best known human rights lawyer, Gao Zhisheng. it's hard to feel compassion for someone who steals for personal material gain but these selfless people are fighting the good fight against huge odds. People like that deserve our help and our best wishes.
Merry Christmas.

Anonymous said...

Ask Morton what he ACTUALLY does for a single prisoner in Canada.

NOTHING. he does nothing other than peddle Cultural Marxism where society is at fault for everybody's criminality.

Morton suffers from a derangement syndrome where he actually believes that deterrence doesn't work.

He has failed to ever answer why very few Canadians get caught bringing drugs into countries where the death penalty greets traffickers.


Morton is a lawyer who has no experience in life other than a university classroom or a lawyers office.

He lives in a bubble where all his friends make MILLIONS of legal aid defending life ling criminals.

Morotn hand his friends don;t want the money cut off.

So he is soft on crime.

That's all this is. It's Morton and his friends trying to convince society that criminals are better off on the streets ASAP.

Morton is not only greedy, but mentally ill as well.


HOW MANY VICTIMS FAMILIES HAVE YOU HELPED WHEN ONE OF THEIR LOVESONES WAS KILLED BY A SYSTEM WHO ALLOWS DANGEROUS INDIVIDUALS ON THE STREETS EVERYDAY?


None.

Anonymous said...

To the last poster: shut up.