Sunday, December 20, 2020
Sunday Reflection: Mercy and the Right Thing
It was quite a week.
On Tuesday, the Minnesota Board of Pardons-- comprised of the Governor, the Attorney General and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court-- had their second and final meeting of the year. It was a remarkable day-- and it ended with the freedom of Myon Burrell, whose case I have been working on much of this year.
But that wasn't the only remarkable thing that happened that day.
Right before the Burrell case, the Board heard the case of Maria Elizondo. Over a decade ago, she committed a crime of poverty: While trying to support several children, she took a job under a fake name while collecting public benefits under her real name. It was a mistake and a crime, like many poor choices.
At her hearing, her son plead for her to get a pardon, because if she didn't she would likely be deported. He is in the military, and will likely soon be sent abroad for the latest in several deployments.
Gov. Walz, who spent decades in the Army Reserves, was deeply sympathetic, and the Attorney General also supported her pardon. The third member of the Board, though, turned and peered at her computer. She noted that though Ms. Elizondo had somehow paid back over $9,000 in restitution, she still owed over $15,000 to the victim-- the State of Minnesota. She said she could not support the pardon unless that was paid.
The Governor scrambled a bit, and suggested that perhaps they could give Ms. Elizondo a week or two to gather the money and reconvene. The son-- the soldier-- said he would give all of his savings, but it would not be enough. They put off the hearing to see if he could find the rest.
I had assigned my students to watch all of the hearings that day. They were watching at their respective homes and talking about them in a group chat-- and were outraged at this. The state-- well, one agent of the state-- wanted to drain the life savings of a soldier about to be deployed to save his mother. This is the same state that shovels money to developers and other corporations, and then doesn't worry much about where that goes. When it comes to abusing state money, "justice" is only for the poor.
In a moment that makes me very proud, my students acted. Working together with my former student Leslie Redmond, the Minneapolis NAACP, and other local activists, they set up a crowdfund site. And within 24 hours, the money was raised.
I think I am working in the right place.
