Lorinda: Seeing the Other Side of Incarceration
For more than three decades, Lorinda worked within the corrections system. She spent 28 years as a chaplain with the Oregon Department of Corrections, supporting people who were incarcerated and witnessing the system from the inside.
Today, she knows that system from a very different position.
Lorinda’s is Heather’s great-aunt. Heather is serving life without the possibility of parole (LWOP), meaning she will spend the rest of her life incarcerated. After Heather’s grandmother became ill, she asked Lorinda to support Heather. Lorinda began writing letters and talking with Heather by phone. Over time, their relationship grew into something deeper: Lorinda became a spiritual mentor, and Heather became an important part of Lorinda’s family.
Through Heather, Lorinda has come to understand incarceration from both sides.
Seeing Corrections From Both Sides
Lorinda’s years as a corrections chaplain give her a perspective few people have. She understands institutional safety concerns and the responsibilities of staff, but she also now understands what it means to be a loved one waiting for a phone call that may or may not come.
Communication with Heather is often difficult due to the prison’s constraints. Calls can be disrupted by lockdowns, staffing shortages, incidents, or malfunctioning phone systems—and when Heather does call, their conversations are limited to just 15 minutes. Loved ones also cannot call people incarcerated.
“It makes me stop whatever I’m doing and accept her call, because it’s that important to me to talk to her,” Lorinda says. “I know that I may not get another call for a day or two.”
Sometimes Lorinda has stepped out of church to answer. Other times, the phone system has accepted the call only to disconnect them.
For someone outside the system, these may sound like minor inconveniences. For Lorinda, they are reminders that ordinary acts of connection—talking to someone you love, sending a photograph, knowing whether they are safe—are controlled by the prison system.
A Relationship Built Across Prison Walls
Lorinda and Heather have grown close through faith and family. Heather was a young Christian when Lorinda began supporting her, and they spent years talking about the Bible and how faith could shape the person Heather was becoming.
Lorinda’s son has also developed a relationship with Heather, helping her prepare for confirmation in the Lutheran church over video calls. Lorinda’s grandchildren talk with Heather and receive gifts she has crocheted for them.
These relationships allow Heather to remain part of family life despite the distance created by incarceration.
Heather Is Not Who She Was
Perhaps what Lorinda most wants people to understand is that Heather has changed.
Heather is serving life without the possibility of parole (LWOP), meaning she has no opportunity for a parole hearing or release based on rehabilitation or demonstrated change. Unless her sentence is otherwise changed, she will spend the rest of her life incarcerated.
But Lorinda does not believe the person Heather is today can be reduced to the person she was when she committed her offense.
Lorinda has watched that change over the years. She has seen Heather become more deeply rooted in her faith, participate in peer mentorship and committees, and build relationships that give her life meaning and purpose.
Lorinda believes a person’s transformation should matter for release – regardless of their prison sentence.
Restoring Wholeness
“If she was able to eventually be released, it would make the family whole again,” she says.
Heather’s parents are aging and live in Idaho. Incarcerated people miss weddings, graduations, holidays, funerals, and ordinary gatherings together. Lorinda imagines taking Heather to Texas, sharing Thanksgiving, or simply going to a park with her grandchildren.
“There’s always that piece missing,” she says of Heather’s absence because of incarceration.
But Lorinda’s vision extends beyond her own family. She believes reducing incarceration and expanding restorative justice could move the country away from punishment and toward healing.
“If we would increase restorative justice and lessen incarceration, it would change America as we know it,” she says. “It would no longer be a punitive, rage-filled type of system. It would be more of an, let’s come to an understanding and learn and grow together.”
“Restorative justice provides healing for victims and perpetrators, which leads to better health for all involved and for our communities.”
Holding on to Hope
Lorinda carries two kinds of hope.
One is spiritual: the belief that, through her faith, she and Heather will ultimately be reunited.
The other is hope for this life—for the possibility that Heather can come home and that some of the wholeness lost through incarceration can be restored.
For Lorinda, ending life without the possibility of parole would not erase the past. It would create space for accountability, healing, relationships, and the possibility of becoming whole again.
You can read Lorinda’s full interview here