The quality of mercy is not strained. It droppeth as the gentle rain...

May 31, 2023 11:51 AM

Gary Settle has helped dozens of federal prisoners get compassionate release. Will it ever be his turn to go home? An essay by Anna Altman.
posted by Rumple (8 comments total)

I'm only a little way in, but already this is a heartbreaking and outrage-provoking read. It's perfectly crafted, too, with appalling facts presented surrounded by the good work others are doing, just like so much of life.

Thank you, too, for linking to Altman's site; it looks like there's a lot of good stuff there.

I'll try to post more when I've had a chance to read more carefully, but I wanted to thank you for sharing this with us, Rumple. I'm glad to have the chance to read it.
posted by kristi at 12:47 PM on May 31, 2023 [6 favorites]

yeah this is some stone inhuman bullshit all the way down. "Not Terminal Enough!" indeed.
posted by chavenet at 3:45 PM on May 31, 2023 [3 favorites]

The fact that a prison needs a cancer ward says a lot.
posted by TedW at 4:03 PM on May 31, 2023 [6 favorites]

Man this story is insanely fucked up. Great glory to Gary and the legal advocates but I can't get past how evil this system is.
posted by grobstein at 4:37 PM on May 31, 2023 [3 favorites]

Gary (Doesn't) Settle.
posted by fairmettle at 7:23 PM on May 31, 2023

OT, but I checked the blue right after watching an episode of The Twilight Zone I chose at random. It was titled "A Quality of Mercy" and ended with that quote from The Merchant of Venice. Strange moment of whiplash seeing that same quote here.
posted by Ickster at 8:58 PM on May 31, 2023 [2 favorites]

Now having read the story, all I can say is how disgusted and outraged I am with American society.

What's the point of continued punishment? It makes me sick.

I'm heartbroken he'll likely end his life in prison, but filled with gratitude that he found meaning in life by helping others.
posted by Ickster at 9:27 PM on May 31, 2023 [1 favorite]

The barbaric vengefulness built into American society and its "justice" system is something else. 177 fucking years for a bunch of armed robberies? This looks like a guy who in more civilized societies with rehabilitative prison systems would have done ten years or fewer and come out a reformed man.
posted by jklaiho at 12:35 AM on June 1, 2023 [2 favorites]