The Walking Dead Last Mile Game
Shanae Maerz
Sifu Frankie Parker came into our lives on the morning of March 24th, 1996 in the form of a letter reprinted in the Letters section of this issue. When I read his letter for the first time I found myself, at first incredulous, and finally numb with shock. Frankie had written to us two months before he was scheduled to be executed; this was an entirely new circumstance in our experience. This man shot and killed his in-laws, James and Sandra Warren, on November 5th 1984. He was about to be executed for these crimes, but somehow the content of his letter struck me in a profound way. We receive hundreds of letters each year from prisoners all over the country; we try to respond in a timely manner as best we can and send out a few books or provide a little advice to those who write. Not only was Frankie about to be executed, but he did not once ask for anything in his letter.
I put our stack of prisoner correspondence to the side for the time being. I wrote to Frankie, Sifu, as he was known, offering our friendship and support. I didn't know how he would take it; we didn't wish to intervene in his business, but we did want to let him know that we cared about him and were willing to support him if he wished. Several days later I received a call from Frankie. He was not in the least offended and, in fact, was pleased that we had offered our support. We talked for quite a while. Toward the end of our conversation he said that he had planned to be killed without a spiritual advisor present but, since we had offered our support, would I accompany him when he was executed? He said that he would be honored by my presence. With no hesitation, I immediately consented. Our lives changed at that point. There were many considerations, more than I can possibly write about here. I have been asked to write a book about our experiences with Sifu, and in that forum I will be able to communicate the full impact of volunteering to be a spiritual advisor for a person to be executed by the state.
During the following month E-Kun and I became intensely involved in organizing people to petition the Governor of Arkansas to grant clemency for Frankie and commute his death sentence to life in prison without parole. We spent a huge amount of time on the telephone contacting people all over the world, wrote many letters and sent out mailings. We appealed to people to donate funds to help us cover the costs of the campaign and to help pay for our transportation to Arkansas. The toll of this activity was considerable, not only in terms of financial drain but also psychological strain and stress. We were constantly aware of the pressure of the situation, the fact that a human life was at stake. Every night before retiring I would find myself questioning if I had done everything I possibly could on Frankie's behalf that day.
We purchased airline tickets to Arkansas, and on Friday, May 24th, we flew to Little Rock, prepared to spend the next few days visiting Frankie. I was to spend the last day, May 28th, alone with Frankie in preparation for his execution scheduled for 9:00 PM on May 29th. When we arrived in Little Rock we discovered that the Governor had granted a reprieve to move the execution to July 11th. E-Kun and I drove from Little Rock on the following morning to Tucker Arkansas, the location of Death Row. We drove through 30 miles of totally flat Mississippi Delta lands, past vast paddies of rice growing for miles in each direction. We arrived at the facility at 11:00 AM and were admitted through security. We were treated with respect and courtesy by the Arkansas Department of Corrections staff. We were greeted by Chaplain, Rev. James Reynolds, a robust black gentleman with great wisdom, a wonderful sense of humor, and a heart of Gold!
I spotted Frankie through the windows of the visiting room. It was an interesting moment. For the first time, I had the face of a human being to connect with the name. After a delightful get-acquainted meeting, I performed a Jukai ceremony for him, giving him the name Jusan (mountain of eternal life), which was selected for him by my abbot, Ven. Eido Shimano, Roshi. Eido Roshi did the calligraphy of his new name on the back of a Rakusu (ritual bib) which was lovingly handmade by our dear sister Myojo as a Jukai present for Jusan.
Governor Tucker was convicted by a jury of two federal felonies on May 28th. Shortly after his convictions, Governor Tucker announced his intention to step down from office on July 15th. The office of Governor was then to be filled by the Lieutenant Governor, Rev. Mike Huckabee. Now the focus of our letter writing campaign shifted. Due to Arkansas statute, a governor was only permitted to grant clemency up to thirty days prior to leaving office. This meant that Governor Tucker could grant clemency only prior to June 15th. We were hopeful that Governor Tucker, now a felon himself, and scheduled to leave office in disgrace, would recognize that he had nothing to lose in granting Jusan clemency. This however, was not to be the case. June 15th passed with no word.
On June 17th, after repeated attempts on my part to reach Governor Tucker or his aide Mr. Jack Gillian, at 12 noon I received a telephone call from Mr. Stark Ligon, the Governor's legal council. Mr. Ligon informed me that after consultation with the Lieutenant Governor's transition staff, a new date of August first had been selected for Jusan's execution. That evening, I received a call from Jusan who was somewhat distraught over the new execution date; evidently the Governor's staff had failed to note that August first was Jusan's birthday! Jusan's mother and father have experienced the suicides of two of their children, Cathy Parker in March of 1980 and Richard Parker in December of 1983, and now they were to experience the State-sanctioned murder of their eldest son on his birthday!
On June 29th we were informed by Governor Tucker's staff that the execution would be set for September 17th. We were told that this date had been selected to avoid carrying out the execution during the hot summer months and at a time when many Department of Corrections employees were on vacation. The September 17th date was confirmed when I received the copy of the Death Warrant signed by Governor Tucker bearing the three inch diameter, ribbon emblazoned, embossed gold Seal of the State of Arkansas. Jusan thought I would get a kick out of receiving this macabre document. He was right; it is a sobering thing indeed. We were informed by the Governor's office that this date had been selected in consultation with the transition staff of Lieutenant Governor Huckabee.
We were consistently amazed by the actions of the Arkansas Governors. Governor Tucker at one point, during a telephone conversation, told Jusan's mother, Janie Parker, that he would meet with me prior to the execution, and a matter of hours later, his assistant, Mr. Jack Gillian, called me to inform me that the Governor had refused to see me. Mr. Gillian said the Governor had never met with a condemned man's spiritual advisor in the past and there was no reason to do so now. Our campaign re-directed its energy to writing to the Lieutenant Governor, Rev. Michael Huckabee. Rev. Huckabee is an ordained Southern Baptist minister and is adamantly opposed to abortion but is pro death penalty.
Jusan and I were talking just about every day on the telephone and our friendship grew deeper and deeper. We watched the news closely and stayed in contact with Jusan's attorney, Mr. Jeff Rosenzweig. On July 15th, I called Jeff to find out if the new governor had assumed office. He informed me that the capitol was in chaos due to a political crisis precipitated when Governor Tucker had an assistant announce that he was refusing to step down from office! Lieutenant Governor Huckabee, with the support of the legislature, delivered an ultimatum to Governor Tucker threatening him with impeachment if he did not step down from office. Later, on the evening national news, we learned that the Governor had relented and resigned. Governor Tucker had evidently seriously thought that he might be able to hold on to power, which probably affected his thinking in regards to granting clemency for Jusan. In reality, it seems that he was operating in a deluded state for quite a while due to the pressure of his trial and, finally, his conviction. Later, insiders at the Governor's office informed us that he was despondent during those last days and that the government was being run by his office staff.
The greatest blow to our efforts came on July 22nd when we learned that the new Governor, Rev. Huckabee, in a totally unprecedented action, issued a proclamation, his first in office, moving Jusan's execution date to August 8th! In effect, with his signature, he cut six weeks of Jusan's life. We were stunned. It was reported that the Governor had met with the family of Frankie's victims. Jim Harris, a spokesperson from the governor's office said, "This [date change] was out of consideration for the victim's family. They've waited years and we could determine no reason to delay it more."
We had prepared the text for this issue of Gateway Journal and the printer was scheduled to begin the press run on July 23rd. Given the change in the execution date, the prepared text was now out of date so we canceled the printing. We had the printer run the center fold page with the third installment of Zen Karmics, a tribute to Jusan, since we wanted to be able to show it to him before he was killed.
I began calling Governor Huckabee's office on a daily basis to request a meeting between the Governor and myself, Jusan's mother, Janie, and his sister Shari. The Governor's assistant on Criminal Justice, Mr. Dale "Butch" Reeve, finally informed me on July 29th that the Governor had agreed to meet with Janie, Shari and myself. The following day I was informed by Mr. Reeve that the Governor had canceled the meeting with us in retaliation for Jusan taking part in a radio talk show! Mr. Reeve seemed to be personally embarrassed by the actions of his superior. I was disturbed by the Governor's action; it appeared that on a psychological level the Governor was acting like a spoiled child. This was ominous indeed. The following day Jusan's sister Shari was on the same radio program and read a profoundly moving letter to the Governor pleading with him to spare her brother's life.