Why We Need Clemency for People on CARES Act Home Confinement
By Daviyan Reed
Imagine being under this huge dark cloud of uncertainty. Walking on eggshells all the time. Being happy — then second-guessing that feeling, over and over. And then imagine hearing that you don’t have to feel that way anymore. That you can relax and finally take a deep breath. That’s what happened to my family.
It all started when I was 18, and my mom, Cheryl Johnson, got in trouble and had to go to prison. It was right before my high school prom, and she was going to go with me. That was rough. If you think about what everyone’s momma is to them, my momma to me is twice that.
Then last year she got home confinement under the CARES Act, after seven years in prison. I’m now 26. When we heard she was coming home, it was amazing. I went to the prison and picked her up and brought her home, and all of us were flying. Every minute together seemed precious. We had a big party for her birthday, and I remember thinking how lucky we all were.
But then we heard that there was a legal memo that said she and all the other people released to home confinement under the CARES Act may have to go back to prison “after the pandemic” — whatever that means. And that started this rollercoaster of emotions for our whole family. We were so happy she was home, but all the time, we were afraid she’d be sent back. It was so stressful.
Then, just before the holidays last year, we got the news that Merrick Garland, the attorney general, said that all those people were not going to be sent back. The relief we all felt — and still feel — was incredible. It was like we could finally take a deep breath, after not being able to breathe properly for so long.
You better believe that our New Year’s Eve party was extra. We really celebrated. My mom is doing so well. She got a great job, and in October last year she got engaged. Actually, she and Jimmy were worried so much about that — should they even think about marriage if she was going to have to go back? — and since we heard the great news, they are definitely planning the wedding.
So we are very grateful that justice won. Some people say, count your blessings and be content. Well, we have plenty of blessings but we are still pushing for even more justice, in the form of clemency. When all those people, like my mother, were released to home confinement, they were heavily vetted. Their cases, their behavior in prison, all of it was reviewed and reviewed again. They were released because it was decided that they were no longer a threat to society. If that’s really so, why not just finish the job and give them all clemency?
The logistics of keeping people like my mom on home confinement are expensive and complex. Many of them, like my mom, have years remaining on their sentences. Here’s a whole group of people — thousands of them — who are costing the system a lot, and have already been screened for public safety.
Our family is really strong now, and that’s because my mom is home. She is like the center of us. We’re excited to see what lies ahead, and hopeful that the system will do the right thing and grant clemency to her and the thousands of others on CARES Act home confinement.
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Daviyan Reed lives in Miami and visits his mom in Texas as often as he can.
