Arrested for Begging on Good Friday: (UPDATED)

                In the last several weeks I have started to help represent folks charged with begging in Durham in violation of the new panhandling ordinance. It was the latest example of a sad trend in the criminalization of poverty. As someone committed to following the path of Jesus, I have learned that we are all part of one human family, and that we are liberated from our own egotistical selfish chains when have the chance to stand with those who are poor, persecuted or outcast. When I learned of the need, I leapt at the chance to get to know some of our poorest brothers and sisters, and to do what I can to help.  It was a blessing for me to get to try, and I knew it would be a spiritual adventure. 

                This adventure has already led me to Court, the jail, and to an initial consultation/lunch on the side of the road hosted by Open Table ministries. I have found this group of poor folks to be extraordinarily kind, generous, and good humored.

                On Good Friday  I was playing soccer with my three boys in the great common area of Duke Gardens when my phone started vibrating incessantly. One of my many clients charged with begging was trying to get in touch with me. I tried to ignore it. I need to set boundaries. I am playing with my kids. They can wait. I thought to myself. When I finally picked up, my client was at the jail. She was arrested for failing to appear in Court on March 19. However, she was in court with me on that date, and due to a clerical error involving a misspelling of her name, she was marked absent for that charge and present for another charge. An order for arrest was issued against her for failing to come to court even though she was there. At the jail, she tried to explain the mistake to the magistrate, but the magistrate did not believe her.  The magistrate told her if she could get a lawyer on the phone to verify her presence, then he would let her go. So after a few calls, disconnections, waiting on hold, I persuaded the magistrate that I really was a lawyer and she really did not miss court. And, so she was released. 

                A few minutes later, I got a text from a person with Open Table Ministries thanking me for helping out our client, and asking about the other person who was arrested the same day for begging. I was clueless, so I called the magistrate back and the conversation went something like this:

Me:                        Hello, it’s me again, Scott Holmes, calling about another one of my clients arrested today for begging. I am sorry to bother you twice in one day.

Magistrate:         Yes, I just heard the probable cause for her arrest from the arresting officer.

Me:                        I was hoping you would let her go. I represent her on her other begging charges, and I know the folks from Open Table Ministry who are making sure that she gets to court. She is not a flight risk.

Magistrate:         Are you with the public defender’s office?

Me:                        No, I am a private attorney volunteering with a coalition of church groups who are concerned about arresting poor people for asking for help.

Magistrate:         Oh, well, the problem here is that the officer said she won’t quit begging. He said he gave her a warning and she didn’t stop. He gave her a citation and she didn’t stop. And so he had no choice but to arrest her.

Me:                        Was that officer B--.?

Magistrate:         yes, how did you know?

Me:                        He seems to be the only officer in Durham with enough time on his hands to cite and arrest people for begging. He seems to like to harass these poor folks.

Magistrate:         Well, I know bond is just supposed to be about risk of flight and risk of harm to the community, but when it comes to people who keep breaking the law after they have been warned, they are becoming a nuisance.

Me:                        I understand your dilemma. The folks with this coalition will make sure she gets to court, and she won’t get any jail time for this charge, so if you keep her in jail on a bond on a Friday, you are basically sentencing her to three days in jail before I can get in front of another judge on Monday. And it’s Good Friday. I’m at Duke Gardens with my kids, the Courts are closed, and there’s no judge I can get to let her out today if you keep her.

Magistrate:         But the officer said he warned her, and then gave her a citation, and so I really don’t have a choice when someone keeps breaking the law.

Me:                        I can understand that concern for any other charge but a criminal charge for begging. What is a person going to do who needs help?  Do you really think justice is served by keeping someone in jail on Good Friday for begging?

Magistrate:         I don’t like seeing people down here on charges like this. I see all kinds of charges, all the time. But I don’t like seeing people get arrested for these sorts of charges. And, it is really good of you to want to help these folks.

Me:                        Well, I really appreciate the time you have given me to try to persuade you to let her out. You have already listened to me way more than you had to. I am sure you will do what you think is right. I hope you don’t have to hear from me any more today.

Magistrate:         I will be here for the next twelve hours…

I found out later, he set a bond of $500 secured and she is still in custody on Easter morning.  I sympathize with the magistrate. I understand the dilemma of police required to enforce bad laws. I have heard that some police are giving citations, and others are making donations.  I know that Jesus is with the poor. And, whenever we help someone who is hungry,  or visit someone in prison, we are doing the work as he taught us. (Matt 25). And I should not be surprised that our justice system seems doomed to repeat the mistake of centuries by continually harming the most vulnerable members of our community instead of lifting them up. As I head into Easter I can hear the words so clearly, “Forgive them, for they know not what they do.”

UPDATE - April 1, 2013

So, I went to court first thing Monday morning to start figuring out how to get my client out of the jail. The Clerk's office helped me figure out that the charges in which the magistrate set a bond were from another county, meaning that she had failed to appear in another county and an order was issued for failure to appear. Although she had a new charge for begging in Durham from Friday, she was not arrested on that charge.  Under these circumstances it is normal for a magistrate to set a small bond for a person missing court in another county.  Usually the person is held on that bond in the Durham County jail, until the other county is notified, and they come and get the person for court. This can take several days, even a week or so. I went to Assistant District Attorney Shamieka Rhinehart who called the District Attorney in the other county and suggested they dismiss the charges in that county.  Although it didn't sound like the other county was really interested in prosecuting the begging charge, they would not agree to dismiss it. However, they agreed to an unsecured bond.  This means that we could approach a District Court Judge and tell the judge that prosecutors in both county have agreed that my client should be released until the new court date set in the other county. So, I went to the jail court room where they were holding first appearances and the District Court judge signed the order converting the bond to an unsecured bond.  This allowed the release of my poor client without her having to post any money up front.

In the meantime, I updated members of the church coalition who were consoling my client's husband who was very worried for her, and was moved to tears by all the help his family was receiving. He was deeply appreciative, and gave me a few dollars for coffee. (Because he knows how much I love coffee).

In the end, it looks like she did not spend the weekend in jail on a Durham County charge, and that it was reasonable in our system of justice for the magistrate to issue a bond on friday (not for begging, but for the failure to go to court). It was a lot of effort, time, energy, paper work, and judicial resource to get someone out of jail on a crime that should not be a crime. Another symptom of the criminalization of poverty is that it drains and squanders limited judicial resources away from more serious matters, when those resources could have been used to prevent the poverty. Or, those resources could have been used to investigate and prosecute real crimes, serious crimes, and violent crimes.

The Music of the Arc of the Moral Universe

From the Speeches of Dr. Martin Luther King, these phrases were assembled into five poems with the hope that someday I will be able to record the voices of young people reading the words, and get artistic help choreographing movement to these words, and performing the piece as an artistic representation of the movement of the arc of history toward justice.

Scott Holmes

 

I. A Radical Revolution of Values

My dear and abiding friends:

A time comes
when silence is betrayal …
We as a nation
must undergo a radical revolution of values

We must rapidly shift

from a thing-oriented society
To a person-oriented society

When machines and computers,
Profit motives and property rights,
Are more important than people -
The giant triplets of
Racism, materialism, and militarism
Are incapable of being conquered

True compassion

is more than flinging a coin at a beggar
It comes to see
that an edifice which produces beggars
Needs restructuring

A true revolution of values

will soon look uneasily
On the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth
And say, “This is not just”

A true revolution of values

will lay hands on the world order
and say of war:
“This way of settling differences is not just”

This business of killing human beings

And filling our nation’s homes
with orphans and widows
Cannot be reconciled with
Wisdom, justice and love

A nation that continues
Year after year
To spend more money on military defense
Than on programs of social uplift -
Is approaching spiritual death
 
America
The richest and most powerful
Nation in the world
Can well lead the way
in this revolution of values

There is nothing,

Except a tragic death-wish,
To prevent us
from re-ordering our priorities

So that the pursuit of peace

Will take precedence
Over the pursuit of war

War is not the answer.

 
We are confronted with
The fierce urgency of now
In this unfolding conundrum of
Life and history

There is such a thing -

As being too late

If we do not act
We shall surely be
dragged down the long, dark, shameful
corridor of time
reserved for those who
possess power without compassion
might without morality
and strength without sight

 

II. Let us be Dissatisfied

Let us be dissatisfied

Until the tragic wall that separates
the outer city of wealth and comfort
And the inner city of poverty and despair
Shall be crushed by the
Battering rams of justice

 Let us be dissatisfied

Until those who live on the
Outskirts of hope
Are brought into the
Metropolis of daily security

Let us be dissatisfied

Until from every city hall
Justice will rolls down like waters
And righteousness like a mighty stream

I believe that unarmed truth
And unconditional love
Will have the final word in reality

That is why right,

temporarily defeated,
Is stronger than evil triumphant

I believe that even amid today’s mortar blasts
And whining bullets
There is still hope
For a brighter tomorrow

I have the audacity to believe that people

Everywhere

Can have three meals a day
for their bodies

Education and culture
for their minds

And dignity, equality, and freedom
for their spirits

III. Let us March

Let us March

Let us march on segregated housing

Until Negroes and whites
Live side by side
in decent, safe and sanitary housing

Let us march on segregated schools

Until Negroes and whites
Study side by side
in the socially healing context of the classroom

Let us march on poverty

Until no American parent
has to skip a meal so their children can eat
Until no starved man walks the streets of our cities
In search of jobs that do not exist

Let us march on ballot boxes

Until we send to our city councils
People who will not fear
to do justice,
love mercy,
and walk humbly with their God

IV. How Long? Not Long!

I know you are asking today,

“How long will it take?”

How long?
Not long!

Because no lie can live forever

How long?
Not long!

Because you still reap what you sow

How long?

Not long!

Because the arc of the moral universe is long

But it bends toward justice

How long?

Not long!

Because mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord

V. We are on the move now

I want to say to the people of America
And the nations of the world:

We are not about to turn around,
We are on the move now, and
Nothing can stop us.

We are on the move now . . .

The burning of our churches will not deter us

We are on the move now . . .
The bombing of our homes will not dissuade us

We are on the move now . . .
The beating and killing of our young people will not divert us

We are on the move now . . .

Like an idea whose time has come

Not even the marching of mighty armies can halt us

We are moving to the land of freedom

Lost in Neverland

(Performance May 11, 2pm and 6pm the Historic Carolina Theater, Durham NC)

 

 Teetering a pile of mats about five feet high with a heavy metal sword in one hand, a metal hook in the other, I was sporting a massive burgundy hat with a black plume feather swooshing off the top. Peter Pan had just set Tiger Lilly free, and Peter and I were about to engage in an epic battle perched on this imaginary rock, swinging from aerial silks. I marveled at it all. How often does a father get to dress up and play Peter Pan with his children in costume?

            I am Captain Hook and Mr. Darling in Legacy Repertory Company’s production of Peter Pan. My  son  Caleb is “John,” my other son Nate is “Michael.” My four year old son, Liam, is a “Flower Fairy,” and my daughter Genevieve is a “bird of Neverland.” Each weekend we spend hours in the studio rehearsing, practicing, acting, dancing, pretending, playing, waiting, listening, and doing art together and with our cast members.



We are sharing the magic of the story of Peter Pan.  We are also experiencing the magic of being part of a cast and a production team. We are bonding into a community that feels more and more like a family the longer we work together. We catch rides, share food, battle on the deck of the ship, and fly into Neverland on streams of cloth. We are each important parts of this dazzling collaboration, regardless of our age or role.

            I am fortunate to get to share the magic of Peter Pan, the magic of performing a show, with all of my own children, and several other children who are becoming like family. Legacy Repertory Company has brought us all together, a group diverse in backgrounds and age, to share the work of this magic. Opened in 2009, Legacy Repertory Company is a 501(c)(3) non-profit that can receive tax deductible gifts. The company’s mission is to bring diverse individuals of all ages and physical abilities to participate in productions, and to share with  an equally  diverse community – some folks who can afford to pay, and others who cannot.   Our final dress rehearsal will be for a group of  children and adults   with special needs. It is inspiring and rejuvenating to escape to Neverland with a hilarious group of our “lost boys” (and girls) . We cherish these young performers and watch in awe as they light up our  studio during rehearsal.    As we work to re-create the magic of the Pan story, we are also blurring the lines between young and old, lost and found, accepted and excluded.        

                   You can share some magic and meet some of our performers, instructors, choreographers, production designers at upcoming community events.  Mrs. Darling will take her story and cast to another location for more story time and acting. On April 14, 2013 at 3:00 pm there is story time with Captain Hook at Durham South Regional Library where there will be more cast members and acting. On April 19, 2013 at 11:00 am at the North Carolina Children’s Hospital at UNC Chapel Hill, there will be a dance demonstration and mini-performance for children.  On April 27, 2013 at the Durham Farmer’s Market, Peter Pan Characters are likely to appear, and then re-appear May 4, 2013, from 9:30 am to 1:00 pm in Downtown Durham.

            Our production needs your support and the support of our community, to bring our magic to the Carolina Theater on May 11, 2013 (2 Shows 2:00 PM and 6:00 PM). Financial resources are needed to bring our vision to the community and share the magic we are practicing. There are several ways to support our work. You can make a tax deductible gift by clicking on the “DONATE” button on the website. (http://www.legacyrepertory.org/index.htm ). You can mail a check out to “Legacy Repertory Company”, 608 N. Duke Street, Durham, NC 27701.  No donation is too small; it is amazing how quickly it adds up. You can call the Company at 919-680-4363 or write to the Company to buy or reserve advance tickets.

I am selling tickets to my friends. Advance prices are $18.00 for Adults, $15.00 for youth, ages 11-18 and seniors, and $12 for children 10 and under.  If you want to buy a ticket from me, email me at scott.holmes@bpm-law.com

You can buy an advertisement for our handbill for your business, church, or organization beginning at $50 for a quarter page black and white advertisement, up to $150 for a full page color advertisement.  I can arrange for advanced tickets, adds, and donations if you want to email me directly at scott.holmes@bpm-law.com

 

 Most importantly, you can help support art in the Triangle, a troupe of performers from age 4 to 40, aiming at reminding us all of the magic of youth, and the joy of being lost, and then being found. You can help us share our magic , and show that you too believe in fairies.