NEW YORK'S TOUGHEST JUDGE SUPPORTS US
In a decade as an acting Supreme Court justice Leslie Crocker Snyder has emerged as Manhattan's chief drug judge, primarily dealing with gang-related and organized crime narcotics felonies.

As an assistant district attorney under Frank Hogan and Robert Morgenthau, she was the first woman to try felonies and the first and only woman in the homicide bureau. Later she founded and was chief of the first Sex Crimes Prosecution Bureau in the U.S. and co-authored New York's Rape Shield Law and other sex-crimes legislation.

A RIKERS ISLAND CORRECTION OFFICER
SEEKS TO TEACH NEW DIRECTIONS
The author, William Sutton, served as a correction officer at Rikers Island for more than 21 years. He is one of the founding fathers of Abraham House and serves, along with his wife Flo, on its Board.

I watched prisoners return, over and over, and actually saw these men grow old in jail. I labeled it the revolving door syndrome.

I was the officer in charge of work details, and it was my responsibility to interview and assign inmates to jobs. Because of this, I had access to personal infornation about these men. The records showed most returned to jail because of a "lack of direction." Many only needed a little support in changing their lifestyles, but those programs, which could be so productive, do not exist in prison.

It was normal that I wanted to reach out to prisoners who needed help to lead a different life. Fr. Peter and Sr. Simone approached correction and community-oriented people to develop a sound program. Abraham House has not changed its goal and purpose. To raise funds, it would be far easier to get contributions if we were warehousing the homeless. But we have remained steadfast in holding to our true vision, which can be summed up in the Chinese proverb:

FRIENDS WHO HELPED WHEN FEW WOULD
Margaret Mead once said, "Never underestimate the ability of a small group of committed individuals to change the world. Indeed, they are the only ones who ever have.

This year's Abraham House Justice and Compassion Award winners -- William Sutton and Sr. Catherine Quinn -- stood by us in the bleakest days as we sought to set up a program for prison families in the 1980s.

As Fr. Peter Raphael puts it: Building Abraham House took years. We had nothing on which we could rely. Sr. Simone and I had foreign accents. We were not Americans. We did not come from big religious congregations. We were strangers here who did not speak the language correctly. And on top of that, we wanted to help prisoners!

William Sutton, then on the Department of Corrections staff and charged with Sanitation at Rikers Island, says:

Fr. Peter, Sr. Simone and I worked together on special problems and had similar thoughts on the revolving door system. I wasn't at the prison to change guys. I recognized that many prisoners should not have been at Rikers, but that was the system. There was no alternative.

The people I was interested in were intelligent young, men whowere in the wrong place at the wrong time. Because of the stigma of prison, on release they could not get a job or find a program or money to avail themselves of an education. They then began repeating in prison. Father and Sister came to my office one day to talk about an idea they had and I thought it would be a great program.

Sutton recognized what states are learning: for some offenders, prison is counterproductive.

Mr. Sutton's wife, Flo, who comes from seven generations of people committed to reaching down and helping those in need, adds, "The vision at the heart of Abraham House is so good, others should be scattered through the five boroughs by now."

The Surtons and Corrections officers James Washington and Robert Jones took up our cause, using skills and wisdom gleaned as participants in the civil rights movement in the rural South. They criss-crossed the state talking with bureaucrats and clergy and found themselves sent on wild goose chases when they got too close to substantive financial support. At one rectory, they were told "I will receive you if you come with money."

The journey at times was bitter. Yet they still hold fast to the validity of the vision. "The city has a lot of prisoners," Flo says. "By now the idea of Abraham House should have mushroomed. Too many people say to Father and Sister, 'You have to compromise to meet our rules.' But they should not compromise. The prisoner part of the program needs funding. It has made such a great step forward and this part of the program particularly is in need."

Sr. Catherine Quinn of the Sisters of the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Staten Island grew up in the 1940s a few blocks from what is now Abraham House and at 16 became a typist for New York Life. Two years later she entered her order, which even in 1950s terms was small (115 nuns) and now has just 19 women. Sr. Catherine is their Congregation Leader.

In 1981 Sr. Catherine was summoned by Terence Cardinal Cooke from her high school classroom (in 30 years she had ranged from kindergarten to teaching banking and the stock market to 12th graders). He wanted Sr. Catherine to become the Vicar for Religious, representing him in dealing with the men and women of religious communities throughout the Archdiocese. She held that job for 17 years and would have been impressed for longer if the subsequent Cardinal (John O'Connor) had his way. His Eminence lost that argument.

Early on, as Vicar, Sr. Catherine accompanied Fr. Peter and Sr. Simone on a Mother's Day visit to Rikers Island. "The place really got to me," Sr. Catherine says. "There was something very beautiful about these people whose single wish that day was to have a card to send to their wives or mothers. The men had to stand on line like kindergarteners; just to go to the toilet.

"Simone told me fellows she thought would make out fine on release would soon come back. She asked, 'Could you find us a place where we can work with prisoners and their families?'

Sr. Catherine heard about 342 Willis from Catholic Charities. A nun had been murdered there and the social program shuttered. "When I suggested the place, I did not know the building was falling down and all the pipes stripped and sold. But Simone was so pleased. 'We will do something with it,' she promised.'"

Subsequently, Sr. Catherine joined the Abraham House Board and quietly and persistently introduced both Cardinal O'Connor and Cardinal Edward Egan to Abraham House.

"Cardinal O'Connor saw we were not simply band-aiding something but building a support system. Everyone coming here is respected, supported and loved for whom they are, I remember Cardinal O'Connor on the sidewalk after his visit, looking up at our poor place. He said, 'Sr. Catherine, now I know what you mean.'"