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HEADLINE: WALK IS INTENDED TO DRAW ATTENTION TO PRISON REFORM

BYLINE: DAVE CONDREN; News Religion Reporter

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A Buddhist nun who has hiked across the United States on behalf of such causes as Indian rights and peace will lead a four-day walk to area prisons beginning Aug. 29 to focus attention on prison and criminal justice reform.

The event, billed as "The Walk for Life," has been organized by the Prison Action Connection of the Western New York Peace Center. It will address such issues as the death penalty, release of terminally ill inmates, prison construction, parole reform and repeal of the Rockefeller-era drug laws.

"These issues are of grave concern to concerned citizens and to members of religious communities," said the Rev. Francis X. Mazur, pastor of St. Gerard's Parish, Buffalo, and spokesman for the prison project. Father Mazur said the walkers will visit 11 prisons, two detention centers and prison-related facilities. The walk will end with a candlelight service at 8:30 p.m. Sept. 1 in Lafayette Square in downtown Buffalo.

The walk will be led by Sister Jun Yasuda, a Buddhist sister from the Grafton Peace Pagoda in Grafton, N.Y., northeast of Albany. She also will be the main speaker at the Lafayette Square service.

Sister Jun, 50, who is of Japanese ancestry, has walked across the United States five times for various causes. Earlier this year, she led a monthlong walk to jails and prisons in the eastern end of New York State.

One of the goals of the walk, Father Mazur said, is to call attention to the way that "the increasingly punitive philosophy of current political opportunists (is) wreaking havoc in the minority communities."

The New York prison population is 50 percent black, 35 percent Latino and 15 percent white, he noted.

"By traveling to more than a dozen area prisons, talking and educating as we go, we hope to bring these issues and their importance into focus and, as a concerned community, help bring about necessary changes," said Father Mazur.

The prison walk will begin with a blessing of walkers at 5 p.m. Aug. 29 at the HOPE House Peace Park, 335 Grider St. It will include visits to the East Ferry Juvenile Detention Center, the VIVE refugee shelter, the Peace Center and an overnight stop at St. James Parish, Bailey and Hastings avenues.

On Aug. 30, the walkers, who will drive from community to community, will visit the Collins, Gowanda, Groveland and Livingston correctional facilities, stopping for the night in Mount Morris and at Letchworth State Park.

Facilities to be visited on Aug. 31 include the Wyoming, Attica, Albion and Orleans correctional facilities and the Federal Detention Center. They will spend the night at St. Teresa's Catholic Church, Akron.

The itinerary on Sept. 1 will include the Wende, Buffalo and Erie County correctional facilities, Erie County Holding Center, Buffalo City Court and the Federal Court Building.

"This is not a protest," stressed the Rev. Robert L. Gebhard Jr., pastor of St. James Parish. "It is to engage people in the dialogue. It is totally a non-violent type of initiative to raise awareness of real justice issues."

Father Gebhard, who will participate in the walk, said one of the issues he feels strongly about is the death penalty because it is in direct opposition to the Catholic position on respect for life.

He also feels that prisons too often are presented as a one-sided issue.

"We see stories about how much it costs the taxpayers to operate the prisons but there is little said about the pluses to society from prisons that provide employment in areas that need jobs," Father Gebhard noted. "When we look at the pros and cons of a system, we need to look at both sides."

Another walker will be Sister Karen Klimczak, founder and director of HOPE House, a residence for men recently released from prison.

Among areas of reform she favors are reinstatement of college education programs for inmates and release of terminally ill prisoners.

"I have found that men who have received education while in prison have more skills that enable them to find jobs that help them become law-abiding citizens," said Sister Karen.

Under programs that existed for many years, inmates were able to earn associate's or bachelor's degrees while serving their sentences. However, those programs have been phased out because of the cost.

Sister Karen also favors medical releases for inmates who are dying.

"There are men who are terminally ill in intensive care units. Their families would like to take them home and care for them," she said.

Improvements of living conditions inside prisons, including double bunking, is one of the concerns of attorney Michael Kuzma, who expects to participate in a portion of the walk.

He also is troubled by "the frenzy to criminalize more and more behavior."

Bruce Jackson, Capen professor of American Culture at UB, feels it is time to repeal the Rockefeller drug laws. They are considered the harshest in the nation and viewed as largely responsible for the state's high prison population and the prison construction boom.

"Over the last 10 years, the amount the state has allocated for new prison construction is a little bit more than the State University of New York budget has been reduced," he said.

Like many advocates of the criminal justice system, Jackson favors spending more money on substance abuse diversion and treatment and less on incarceration.

LOAD-DATE: August 24, 1999