Earlier this month, Benevolence Farm accompanied an alumna to district court as she faced a felony charge for obtaining property by false pretenses.
The property in question: A $47 gift card from a clothing store.
The District Attorney was pursuing a year in prison, due to the person’s past history of petty theft when she was in active addiction.
For eight months, her Public Defender delayed the case so that a potential conviction would not also result in a parole violation, which would add even more time to her prison sentence.
In August, this alumna successfully completed parole and moved into the local community.
Throughout this entire time, Benevolence Farm joined in court hearings, acting as her support system to take notes and interpret what all the legal language meant for her.
Finally, in early September, the Public Defender negotiated a plea deal with the Assistant District Attorney, convincing the state to drop the felony charge down to misdemeanor shoplifting, swapping a year in prison for a year of supervised probation with potential for jail time if she was not able to meet probation terms.
Our alumna was greatly relieved by this outcome. She had called her daughter before the court appearance to make a plan on what would happen if she was arrested and incarcerated. Afterwards, she was able to call and let her know that was not going to happen.
We join in mutual relief that this person was not incarcerated. We are also sitting with a both/and tension.
We are thrilled that she is not incarcerated and we are frustrated that our court system spent the last eight months trying to send her to prison.
The Public Defender and the Judge both noted that the only reason they didn’t send her to prison is because she had a supportive person and organization behind her.
We are so honored to be able to provide that support and discouraged by the thought that thousands go to prison because there are no advocates by their side.
Did someone need to go to prison for a stolen gift card? Does that make us safer? Does it dissuade crime? Is it worth the $50,000+ per year taxpayer cost of incarcerating someone in a North Carolina prison?
Why do we seem so apt to disappear the person, not the root cause?
We write this post as the national spotlight is on Charlotte, where a person in a mental health crisis killed their neighbor on a train.
We are grieving over the death of a fellow North Carolinian. We are also tired of the finger pointing and calls for more punishment, when we know we have all failed both of these people by prioritizing punishment and policing over wellness and care.
Here at Benevolence Farm, we imagine a much better way is possible.
Staff, alumni, and residents sit with these kinds of tensions every day. We try to heal towards a community that addresses our problems together, but the society and systems we live within can only get us so far. There’s a lot of work left to do.
For now, we sit with these tensions, tapping into the discomfort of the “both/and” to push all of us closer to freedom.
With that, we invite y’all to join us in that discomfort. Ask questions. Join us in community. Take care of yourself and your neighbors.
Let’s disappear problems, not people.
