Thank you to Kite Line Radio for their amazing work, compassion and understanding.
Renford had the privilege of being interviewed by Kite Line Radio about his crime, about his sentence and about his time in prison.
The system here made me believe that I was a bad person and I was a violent guy…they created something and I went along with it. ..they’ve created me to be this animal.
The interview is split in two parts that we have posted below.
“…Farrier introduces us to himself and his case. You’ll hear some similarities with what Baye Sylvester talked about last week- the way that plea deals and faith in the system can confuse and intimidate prisoners and their families into accepting unfavorable charges.” (via Kite Line Radio)
“Farrier talks about the false perceptions of the Canadian prison system- namely that people think that Canadian prisons are somehow nicer and less racist than in the US. He walks us through how he initially understood his sentence to be ten years, but in practice, each time he comes up for parole he is denied. The life-10 sentence is misleading, since many prisoners do not get paroled after ten years, given that in order to do so you need to basically have a spotless record inside. To make matters worse, when they actually are paroled, it’s nearly impossible to stay out. The parole system is so controlling that parolees are often accused of parole breaches, landing them back inside while they await a parole board’s decision.
As a Black prisoner, Farrier feels like he’s been unfairly denied parole repeatedly, and talks to us about his feelings leading up to his next parole hearing- which is at the end of this year.” (via Kite Line Radio)
I wasn’t going to submit. I didn’t know how to submit. That’s not how I was raised. Part of your rehabilitation is to submit.
To go in front of a Parole Board and try to explain to these people, “Hey, it’s 30 years,” they don’t see the number. They don’t…Because your behaviour wasn’t perfect, we can’t release you…How am I a threat to a society that I don’t even know about?
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