c

c 
c c c

` 
  c
BY CRAIG CROSBY Staff Writer
Stan Moody sits behind his desk, his legs crossed in ease, thoughtfully and quietly exchanging ideas
about faith and society.
There, in frames hanging on office walls inside
his Manchester home, are the diplomas and pictures that
serve as mile markers on Moody¶s lightly-traveled road.
And that road, at least recently, has rarely taken
Moody far from controversy.
A self-described evangelist, Moody is openly
critical of the many evangelicals who have aligned
philosophically with the Republican Party. Moody tries to
live his life consistent with the attitudes and behaviors
Jesus urged in what has become known as the Sermon
on the Mount ² yet he deplores attempts to legislate
morality.
Moody knows his latest crusade ² to push state
leaders to enact prison reform ² also may spark an
argument or two.
But he is all but incapable of silence.
³The thing that has driven me more than anything is the
belief we should provide opportunities for people to follow
their own dreams and callings,´ Moody says. ³You have
to look at others as people who are capable of changing.
Not everybody does, but you have to give them a
chance.´
Moody¶s belief comes from the changes he says
God has made his own life, through all of its twists and
turns.
³I¶ve found in my life He¶s there right when he
needs to be,´ Moody said.
Moody spent a few years building spy satellites
after earning his engineering degree. He went to law
school before deciding neither satellites, nor the law, was
for him.
Moody eventually entered the seminary when he was 48. He earned a Ph.D. in theology in 2000, the year
he turned 61.
Along the way, Moody has been a business owner, a registered Maine Guide, writer, and, for the past 16
years, pastor of the North Manchester Meeting House Church. In between, he twice ran for the Legislature ²
winning each time, first as a Republican and then as a Democrat.
³I was a lousy Republican and I¶m a worse Democrat,´ Moody said. ³My political philosophy cannot be a
threat to the Kingdom of God.´
Moody left the Legislature in 2007 and took a position as chaplain of the Maine State Prison in Warren.
³I had a very good situation that turned out to change my life,´ Moody said. ³There are a few instances in life
where something reaches out and grabs you. All of us want something like this in our life.´
In April 2009, Sheldon Weinstein, a 64-year-old, wheelchair-bound prisoner serving a two-year sentence
for gross sexual assault on a child, died four days after being beaten in his cell. Maine State Police would
eventually determine his death a homicide.
Two months later, the Office of Program Evaluation and Government Accountability released a report
detailing instances of intimidation, harassment, discrimination and a strong sense of a ³good old boy´ network
within the state¶s prison administration.
The report only confirmed what Moody says he had experienced firsthand as the prison¶s chaplain. The
reaction to Weinstein¶s death, itself, included all of the problems cited in the OPEGA report. Prisoners and guards
alike met news of Weinstein¶s murder with indifference, and even satisfaction, due to the nature of Weinstein¶s
crime, Moody said.
But Moody saw a man beaten to death because of a corrupt system that deprives inmates and guards
alike of basic human dignity.
³If you see an issue, you can bury your head in the sand or address it,´ Moody said. ³I realized, at the
very least, what we had was medical insecurity and neglect.´
Moody issued a memo detailing the systemic problems as he saw them.
³That was the beginning of the end for me,´ Moody said. ³I felt I had to stand up for the Sheldon
Weinsteins of the world.´
Moody¶s tongue, and his keyboard, were largely silenced by the confidentiality requirements of his
position as chaplain, so Moody resigned in the summer of 2009. He remained on administrative leave until May of
this year.
³I wound up making the decision I could be more effective on the outside than I was inside,´ he said. ³In
order to get the thing moving, I had to get out of there.´
Moody let loose on all fronts, writing articles and letters and giving lectures to tell people about what he
had seen inside the prison walls.
In his writings, he describes a system that applies rules capriciously among the inmates, is prone to
favoritism among staff and discourages guards from acting with integrity.
Moody produced a booklet entitled ³Death in B117: Narrative of a Personal and Public Tragedy.´ In it, he
details the circumstances of Weinstein¶s death and what he calls the cultural dysfunction that led to it.
³There is a question of whether any or all of us under similar circumstances might be inclined to
administer discipline inconsistently or be abusive,´ Moody wrote. ³Once a person has turned the corner toward
callous disregard for human life of any kind, that same ethic becomes projected onto fellow staff members.
Stripped of their humanity, whether inmates or staff, people begin to act in ways consistent with their treatment. It
becomes cumulative and corrosive.´
Maine State Prison Warden Patricia Barnhart, who took over in December 2009, told lawmakers in June
she was working to improve morale at the facility, but there was more to do.
A lot more, Moody believes.
³The changes I¶ve seen are cosmetic, but the biggest change I see is that the public is aware we have a
problem down there,´ he said. ³The change is that the advocates of prison reform are getting a voice.
³People take tours and are impressed with the beautiful new facility. Beneath it is this crushing disregard for basic
human dignity.´
Moody has written Gov.-elect Œ>?@ABCŒ>DC advocating greater transparency in the Department of
Corrections and to offer a proposal for a statewide program to improve integration for inmates returning to society.
The re-entry the program would draw on community resources to assist with housing, job training, substance
abuse counseling and mentoring with qualified volunteers. Moody believes the program could reduce recidivism
by as much as 80 percent for a fraction of the $300 million currently spent on state and county corrections.
Moody knows there are those who believe he is too soft on convicted prisoners ² but Moody insists he is not
seeking leniency, just equity.
³Every problem results in a policy manual, but manuals aren¶t followed,´ he said. ³I¶m for following the
policies consistently. The problem is, nothing is consistent. The discipline is not consistent. We need to make sure
people aren¶t singled out because we don¶t like the crimes they committed.
³I think that¶s something the Sermon on the Mount teaches, µThere but for the grace of God go I,¶´ Moody
continued. ³There isn¶t a crime down there any one of us wouldn¶t commit under certain circumstances.´

Craig Crosby²621-5642
ccrosby@centralmaine.com

Staff photo by Joe Phelan

Select images available for purchase in the
Maine Today Photo Store
c