Category: justice

An Open Letter to Loretta Lynn

tracy bradshaw

Dear Loretta Lynn,

I hope my letter makes it to your hands, as I think you will want to know about our connection. I belong to a group, for bereaved moms, called Listening Hearts. It is not a group with which I ever imagined being associated. As I have traveled this grief journey for the last five years, my spirituality has emerged with an awareness that was once secretly questioned. There have been numerous signs along this path that show my son’s spirit is alive and with me, so I don’t question the spirit anymore. It is real, and it is constant. I am writing to you concerning such spiritual signs.

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A Mother’s Victim Impact Statement

Amparo Atencio

Today was the last time I plan to set foot in the Anderson County Courthouse, in Clinton, Tennessee. It was the culmination of the criminal justice phase for the murder of my son, Tony James Phillips, forever 22. This is the impact statement I delivered to a crowded courtroom, full of defendants, the accused, the suspected, the admitted guilty, in addition to family members, prosecutors, defense attorneys, and the judge.

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