(C) Verite News New Orleans This story was originally published by Verite News New Orleans and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Q&A: Robert and Sibil Fox Richardson on ‘Time II,’ a documentary about mass incarceration premiering at Essence [1] ['John Gray', 'More John Gray', 'Verite News', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Coauthors.Is-Layout-Flow', 'Class', 'Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus', 'Display Inline', '.Wp-Block-Co-Authors-Plus-Avatar', 'Where Img', 'Height Auto Max-Width'] Date: 2024-07-01 Sibil Fox Richardson and Robert Richardson, known as “FoxandRob”, are criminal justice reform advocates using film to bring Louisiana’s harsh sentencing laws to light. Their new documentary, “Time II: Unfinished Business,” a sequel to the 2020 film “Time,” premieres this Saturday (July 6) at the Essence Film Festival. . “Time,” the Oscar-nominated documentary directed by Garrett Bradley, focused on the battle to free Rob from prison. A first-time offender, he was sentenced to 61 years for robbing a north Louisiana bank in 1997. (Fox, who drove him to the bank, served three-and-a-half years of a 14-year sentence.) As the film shows, the New Orleans-based couple found a provision of state law, known as “geriatric parole,” that allowed certain prisoners serving long sentences to file for a parole hearing after serving at least 20 years and reaching the age of 45. But tweaks to the law since it was introduced made Rob, and thousands of others, ineligible for the program. . Fox lobbied then-Gov. John Bel Edwards to commute Rob’s sentence and the state Legislature to open up geriatric parole. In 2018, 21 years into his sentence, Rob was released after then-Gov. John Bel Edwards granted his request for clemency. And in 2021, the Legislature voted overwhelmingly to change the geriatric parole law, expanding parole eligibility to nearly 3,000 prisoners. The new film — which Sibil directed — finds Rob a free man. But as the title suggests, the couple’s work is not over. This time, they are working to secure the release of their nephew, Ontario Smith, who was Rob’s accomplice in the 1997 robbery. The film’s premiere comes at the beginning of a new era in criminal justice policy in Louisiana. When “Time” premiered, the state had recently passed a sweeping package of sentencing reform bills, known as the Justice Reinvestment Initiative, meant to reduce its incarceration rate, which has long been among the highest in the world. But in January, former state Attorney General Jeff Landry was sworn in as governor, and the tough-on-crime prosecutor immediately began working to dismantle those reforms. Earlier this year, following a special legislative session focused on crime, Landry signed a series of bills designed to increase prison terms, including one that will effectively eliminate the possibility of parole for all but a small number of prisoners. Sibil and Rob spoke to Verite News about “Time II,” their lives since the release of the first film and the state of criminal justice reform in a post-Landry Louisiana. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Verite News: The first documentary was largely focused on Robert’s freedom and his journey to freedom. So now that he is free, what inspired you guys to make this second documentary? Fox Rich: I think the most important part about it was being able to show what happened after Rob came home, as well as being able to give those viewers that fell in love with “Time” an opportunity to really get answers to the questions that time may have left them with. So for us, it was about making sure that it was great that Rob had come home. But what we would do, the commission that had been laid upon us, the work that we were set to do after he returned was work that we thought was going to be notable enough that people would need to know and we wanted to share. Verite News: When the first film came out, the Louisiana Legislature had passed and was continuing to pass laws that were kind of tackling historically high rates of incarceration. And you guys helped with that as well, with the geriatric parole law. So what were your expectations of the state’s approach to criminal justice reform at the time? Fox Rich: I think our approach was just trying to get them to do the right thing. This was an issue that had been on the books. It was a law that had passed in the 90s. And then, all of a sudden, the Department of Corrections started ill-applying, misinterpreting the law and denying people who were eligible for parole, once they had reached 45 years of age and had served 20 years in prison. We were counting on that law to come home. It was like our safety net that if all else fails in this time that we have been doing. Because Rob received a 61-year sentence for taking $5,000 from a bank. And so our understanding was that this would be like our safety. If we weren’t able to get out any other way, then we will be able to use geriatric parole. And when my husband finally applied for it, they said that they were no longer implementing it. Rob Rich: When you talk about an expectation that had been set on the government, I guess that it takes me back to the saying, “When you think about the function of freedom, the function of freedom is in freeing someone else.” And when I think about our governors, I think about, you know, like pharaohs, of the days of old, you know, that basically had the power to free other people. So our governors, our lawmakers, our DAs, our judges, all of them are people that are in a position of power to create freedom for other people. And I think that whenever we can look at situations where we see that people are being arrested and convicted for low-level crimes being sentenced [to decades-long prison terms], then we have a system that is not necessarily working in a way that is beneficial to the people that they cage up. So with that being said, our expectation was that we would move away from that type of thinking and move more into a just way of thinking. So when it came to the [Justice Reinvestment Initiative] acts that have been created in our state, we were hopeful that our governor would in fact stand up on the campaign promises that he had made to people as it related to criminal justice reform. So as all people say, we were intentional about holding the fire to his feet. So every step that we made, every action that we took, was toward making sure that he made good on his word. Verite News: That was Gov. Edwards. Now we have Jeff Landry in office with his tough-on-crime stance and all the bills that passed earlier this year. What did you think about his election? Fox Rich: What we can say about Jeff Landry’s election is just that it genuinely shows us the new state that we are in, the new mindstate that our state has taken on. And I think that no matter who holds office, it is still incumbent upon the people to make sure that we are not only exercising our freedom but that we are exercising our rights to ensure that our government is working on our behalf. It doesn’t mean that we won’t be challenged — doesn’t mean that the person in office won’t move away from what we want. But it is our responsibility as citizens of this great state, to work toward ensuring that they do the right thing about us, not just laying down and accepting things for the way that they are. Rob Rich: Right, because our motto is not I, the individual. It’s we the people. And we the people have a duty and an obligation to make sure that those that are working in positions of leadership — because they’re not tyrants, you know, they’re not dictators, although they may act like it at times — but they’re servants to the people. We as a people have an obligation and a duty to make sure that [Landry] is governing in a way that services the people, all of the people, not just a fraction of them, not a segment of them, but all of the people in a way that is just in a way that is fundamentally fair. And one that doesn’t work to harm us. Verite News: What kind of strategies do you think criminal justice reform advocates should be looking toward now? Rob Rich: I think now we have to get to a place where we start working on the front end. And we start working to prevent people from ever going into the system. Because that way, no matter how many beds you build, how many prisons you build, nobody’s going to jail. So I think we have to start working on the front end. So we have to get into our high schools, into our elementary schools, junior high schools. We got to catch people before they totally bottom out. Verite News: So I also wanted to know, if you all were still in contact with people working in, either in or working in Louisiana prisons, and what they’re saying about this political shift that we’re seeing. Rob Rich: Some of the people that we’re talking to are totally frightened. Because, you know, like I said, we’ve had maybe the last 10 or 15 years where the pendulum has been swinging t toward meaningful reforms. And now all of a sudden, those meaningful reforms have been repealed and have been pulled back. So it’s a very frightening state of affairs that we’re in right now. And when you look at the last reports, they’re saying that within the next six years, with the reform measures that had been made, just in this legislative session alone, our prison population is expected to double in the next six years, Fox Rich: And so the other thing that we are doing is we are telling this story. This story is not just our story, it is the story of the leading incarcerator in the whole wide world, Louisiana. And that’s what this film talks about. In order for you to do better, you got to know better. And so by making this film, we make people informed, and then we can make informed decisions about how we want to conduct ourselves moving forward. Verite News: In this second documentary, a fair amount of time is spent talking about Gloria Williams, also known as “Mama Glo.” There was testimony from the victim’s family, where the victim’s family asked to keep Mama Glo in prison. So what I want to know is how do you square calls for a more humane justice system for people convicted of crimes with the experiences and desires of victims of their families in mind? Fox Rich: That’s a very good question. I would probably look to say, what are we doing across the world, and all other industrialized nations, no matter what travesty you may commit, the maximum amount of time you get in prison is 21 years. 21 years is a lifetime, it’s two decades. So what more are you looking for? Rob Rich: I just think that overall, we have to move toward being a more compassionate society of people. I know that that’s difficult at times when you’re the victim of, you know, someone else’s transgressions. But at the same time, I think that we have to also operate in what I like to call fundamental fairness. In any type of instance, I think that there is a fundamental fairness of what can happen, I’m not one that is out here professing or advocating for the removal of prisons. I’m not advocating for, you know, people to no longer face their sanctions. But for crimes that have been committed. I’m just asking that the sentences fit the crimes. Mama Glo was not the person that pulled the trigger. Mama Glo was someone that was a part of a robbery that took place.Yes, a person lost a life, but that life was not lost as a result of what Mama Glow had done. It’s not to say that Mama Glo shouldn’t go to prison for her transgressions. I just don’t think that she should have been doing that much time for her particular role in that. Related Republish This Story Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license. [END] --- [1] Url: https://veritenews.org/2024/07/01/qa-fox-rich-rob-rich-time-ii/ Published and (C) by Verite News New Orleans Content appears here under this condition or license: Creative Commons BY-NC-ND 3.0 US. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/veritenews/