January 05, 2011

Evidentiary Hearing for Jarvis Masters

I wanted to alert you to Rev. Hozan Alan Senauke's blog <http://clearviewblog.org>
which, from now and through the next few weeks, is covering the evidentiary hearing for San Quentin death row inmate Jarvis Masters who is seeking a retrial.  Alan has been Jarvis' spiritual adviser and friend for fifteen years.  Jarvis is a well known Buddhist and published writer who was sentenced to death in 1990 for allegedly having sharpened a knife that was used to kill a San Quentin official.  Two other men received life sentences: one ordered the killing, the other carried it out.  Jarvis was accused of sharpening the knife (which was never found) by two other prison inmates and received the death sentence.


Alan is in court each day with Jarvis and is giving updates.  The blog is compelling and I thought you might be interested as some of you may have come across Jarvis Masters' writing and be concerned about his plight.  In any case, do keep good thought for Jarvis during these coming weeks as his life depends upon a fair outcome.


Many of you remember that Rev. Hozan Alan Senauke was one of our Ryokan san Lecturers who spoke on "The Teachings of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr."  He is Assistant Abbot of Berkeley Zen Center, director of the Clear View Project, and former director of the Buddhist Peace Fellowship.