Jarvis Jay Masters
{{Short description|American author and death row inmate}}
{{Infobox criminal
| birth_place = Long Beach, California, United States
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1962|2|24}}
| imprisoned = San Quentin State Prison
| occupation = Author
| criminal_penalty = Death
| criminal_charge = Armed robbery, conspiracy
| status = Held on death row
| states = California
| country = United States
| date = 1981 (Armed Robbery)
1990 (Conspiracy)
}}
Jarvis Jay Masters (born February 24, 1962) is an American author{{Cite web |title=Jarvis Jay Masters |url=https://www.harpercollins.com/blogs/authors/jarvis-jay-masters-880000013658 |access-date=2022-09-15 |website=HarperCollins |language=en}} and death row inmate at California's San Quentin State Prison.Division of Adult Operations. "Death Row Tracking System Condemned Inmate List (Secure)" (PDF). California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.
Background
Masters, who is of African American heritage,{{cite magazine | url=https://www.thenation.com/article/society/jarvis-jay-masters/ | title=Free Jarvis Jay Masters! | date=7 January 2022 | last1=Gogola | first1=Tom }} was originally sent to San Quentin State Prison in 1981 for armed robbery. In 1990, Masters was convicted of fashioning a weapon that was used by another inmate in the 1985 murder of a prison guard at San Quentin, and sentenced to death.{{Cite web |date=2022-09-13 |title=Oprah picks California death row inmate's autobiography for book club |url=https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-09-13/oprah-picks-california-death-row-inmates-autobiography-for-book-club |access-date=2022-09-15 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}} Masters has maintained his innocence through his trial and sentencing,{{Cite web |last=Seasly |first=John |date=2019-12-03 |title=Jarvis Jay Masters: Accuser's description of Masters matched inmate who confessed |url=https://www.injusticewatch.org/news/2019/jarvis-jay-masters-accusers-description-of-masters-matched-inmate-who-confessed/ |access-date=2022-09-29 |website=Injustice Watch |language=en-US}} and through the California appeals process.{{Cite web |title=Death Penalty Upheld For Inmate Accused Of 1985 San Quentin Prison Guard Murder |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/sanfrancisco/news/death-penalty-upheld-for-inmate-accused-of-1985-san-quentin-prison-guard-murder/ |access-date=2022-09-29 |website=www.cbsnews.com |date=22 February 2016 |language=en-US}}CBS News: {{Citation |title=Oprah picks "That Bird Has My Wings" by Jarvis Jay Masters for her book club |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/video/oprah-picks-that-bird-has-my-wings-by-jarvis-jay-masters-for-her-book-club/ |language=en-US |access-date=2022-09-15}} In 2019, the California Supreme Court upheld Masters' conviction.{{Cite web |last=Egelko |first=Bob |date=2019-08-14 |title=Death penalty upheld in 1985 slaying of San Quentin guard, despite recantation |url=https://www.sfchronicle.com/crime/article/Death-penalty-upheld-in-1985-slaying-of-San-14304204.php |access-date=2022-09-29 |website=San Francisco Chronicle |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |date=2019-08-21 |title=Innocence Lost {{!}} Pacific Sun |url=https://pacificsun.com/innocence-lost/ |access-date=2022-09-29 |website=Pacific Sun {{!}} Marin County, California |language=en-US}} Masters has presented new evidence of innocence to the United States District Court for the Northern District of California as part of a federal appeal for exoneration.{{Cite news |last=Italie |first=Hillel |date=2022-09-13 |title=Winfrey selects prison memoir 'That Bird Has My Wings' |work=Associated Press |url=https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-oprah-winfrey-book-clubs-97a96ae04a8e586ce78fc0cad0785a3c |access-date=2022-09-14}} Reporting by The Los Angeles Times details what it describes as "discrepancies in the evidence" to convict Masters, including sworn recantations from the state's original witnesses against Masters, an eyewitness description that does not match Masters, and that another inmate confessed to the crime. The trial jury never heard that confession because it was not disclosed to Masters’ attorneys during his original trial.{{Cite web |date=2022-10-24 |title=A prison guard's murder, an inmate's death sentence and a decades-long battle for freedom |url=https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-10-24/life-and-death-row-a-california-prison-murder-and-inmates-conviction-ripple-through-time |access-date=2022-11-07 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}}
Publisher and popular culture
Masters is an adherent of Buddhism, and the author of That Bird Has My Wings: The Autobiography of an Innocent Man on Death Row,Reviews:{{Bulleted list|{{Cite web |title='That Bird Has My Wings' Is Oprah's Book Club Pick |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/news-and-features/articles/that-bird-has-my-wings-is-oprah-book-club-pick/ |access-date=2022-09-30 |website=Kirkus Reviews |language=en}}|{{Cite web |date=2022-09-13 |title=Read an Excerpt from "That Bird Has My Wings," by Jarvis Jay Masters |url=https://www.oprahdaily.com/entertainment/books/a41137622/jarvis-jay-masters-that-bird-has-my-wings-book-excerpt/ |access-date=2022-09-30 |website=Oprah Daily |language=en-us}}|{{Cite web |title=That Bird Has My Wings: The Autobiography of an Innocent Man on Death Row, by Jarvis Jay Masters |url=https://www.inquiringmind.com/article/2602_37_oldershaw/ |access-date=2022-09-30 |website=Inquiring Mind |language=en-US}}|{{Cite web |last=Phillips |first=Jenny |title=Why You Should Read "That Bird Has My Wings" by Jarvis Jay Masters - Lions Roar |date=14 September 2022 |url=https://www.lionsroar.com/prison-monk/ |access-date=2022-09-30 |language=en-US}}|{{Cite web |title=That Bird Has My Wings: The Autobiography of an Innocent Man on Death Row by Jarvis Jay Masters |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9780061730450 |access-date=2022-09-30 |website=www.publishersweekly.com}} }} which was selected by Oprah Winfrey as an Oprah's Book Club selection in September 2022.{{Cite web |date=2022-09-13 |title=Oprah's New Book Club Pick Is "That Bird Has My Wings," by Jarvis Jay Masters |url=https://www.oprahdaily.com/entertainment/books/a41104946/oprah-book-club-2022-that-bird-has-my-wings/ |access-date=2022-09-15 |website=Oprah Daily |language=en-us}} Winfrey stated her belief in Masters' innocence in an interview with the Los Angeles Times.{{Cite web |date=2022-10-24 |title=He has been on death row for decades. With a new appeal and help from Oprah, can he win his freedom? |url=https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2022-10-24/life-and-death-row-a-california-prison-murder-and-inmates-conviction-ripple-through-time |access-date=2022-11-07 |website=Los Angeles Times |language=en-US}} Masters is also author of Finding Freedom: How Death Row Broke & Opened My Heart,Reviews:{{Bulleted list|{{Cite web |last=Grace |first=Indira |date=2020-08-25 |title=Finding Freedom: How Death Row Broke and Opened My Heart by Jarvis Jay Masters {Book Review} |url=https://thetattooedbuddha.com/2020/08/25/finding-freedom-how-death-row-broke-and-opened-my-heart-by-jarvis-jay-masters-book-review/ |access-date=2022-09-30 |website=The Tattooed Buddha |language=en-US}}|{{Cite web |title=Book review – Finding Freedom: how death row broke and opened my heart – Voice for Arran |date=30 September 2020 |url=https://voiceforarran.com/issue-115/book-review-finding-freedom-how-death-row-broke-and-opened-my-heart/ |access-date=2022-09-30 |language=en-GB}}|{{Cite web |title=Finding Freedom: How Death Row Broke and Opened My Heart by Jarvis Masters |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/9781611809114 |access-date=2022-09-30 |website=www.publishersweekly.com}} }} as well as poems, short stories, articles, essays, and an op-ed in The Guardian newspaper.{{Cite web |date=2020-05-22 |title=Letting prisoners use cellphones makes sense – now more than ever {{!}} Jarvis Jay Masters |url=http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/may/22/coronavirus-prisons-covid-pandemic-cellphones |access-date=2022-09-15 |website=the Guardian |language=en}} Masters is the subject of the book The Buddhist on Death Row by author David Sheff,{{Cite news |title=David Sheff Charts Jarvis Jay Masters' Buddhist Journey In Prison In New Book |language=en |work=NPR.org |url=https://www.npr.org/2020/08/08/900432059/david-sheff-charts-jarvis-jay-masters-buddhist-journey-in-prison-in-new-book |access-date=2022-09-29}} the iHeart Radio two-season podcast Dear Governor,{{Cite web |title=Dear Governor |url=https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-dear-governor-61926168/ |access-date=2022-09-29 |website=iHeart |language=en}} and an op-ed in the New York Times by author Rebecca Solnit.{{Cite news |last=Solnit |first=Rebecca |date=2022-04-22 |title=Opinion {{!}} Why Did We Stop Believing That People Can Change? |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/22/opinion/forgiveness-redemption.html |access-date=2022-09-30 |issn=0362-4331}}
See also
References
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