Tony Enis N82931
P.O. Box 1000
Menard, IL 62259

March 23.2023

Jailhouse Lawyer Initiative
% Tyler Walton, Esq
139 Mac Dougal St. B22
New York, NY 10012

Dear Tyler.

I received the February issue of
JLI a few days ago, and as always, it
was enlightening.
I greatly enjoyed the "Imagining
Freedom Transcript." I was also intrigued
by the new " Flashlights" initiative. A very
apropos title.
I have enclosed a piece that I believe
falls under the "realities" aspect of the
platform. If I am mistaken, just return
it to me . I have enclosed a 5758, for your
convenience
In the event that " Quiet Night" does
fit the parameters. I have sent an accom-
panying introductory Letter.
In closing, know that you and MS
Polk have my eternal respect and
gratitude for your personal sacrifice
and contributions to the cause of
fairness, decency, equality, and hope.

Sincerely,
Tony Enis


www.freetonyenis.com

[1]

Greetings Friends and Colleagues.

My name is Tony Enis, and I am a
jailhouse lawyer. I am a certified paralegal.
with a specialized certificate in criminal
Law.
I spent 15 years on death row before
my sentence was commuted to natural life
via a blanket commutation granted by the
then - governor. Illinois' death penalty
system had achieved a level of notoriety
that could no longer be Ignored. That notor-
iety was fueled by the fact that Illinois
had executed close to a dozen men, while "dis-
covering" another dozen or so to he Innocent
and/or wrongly convicted.
In baseball terms, Illinois was batting
500. Great, If you're playing for the Chicago
Cubs, but worse than tragic if you're wielding
the machinery of death.
One such tragedy was my friend " Hashi,"
and I dedicate the short memoir, " Quiet Night "
to his memory. I hope you will share it.

With respect,
Tony Enis

wwwfreeboxyenis.com

[1]

Quiet Night [Underlined]

It was a night of unusual
quiet. Most nights you can hear
t.v's and radios blaring, the long
distance conversations of inmates
yelling back and forth to each
other from several cells away, or
the blusterous sounds of someone
triumphantly declaring "checkmate!"
to his vanquished chess opponent ...
but not this night. On this night.
some of us were preparing to say
good-bye to a friend for the last
time.
Hashi was "making his rounds",
saying his final farewells to those
that mattered to him . It was a
ritual that played out each
time someone's "death date" was
upon them and upon us, Like some
Shakespearean tragedy. Thus is
life on death row as we know it -a
series of greetings and farewells.
And my turn to say good- bye was
approaching faster than I wanted
it to.

[2]
I could hear Hashi drawing
ever closer to my cell, and I
steeled myself against the emoti-
onal onslaught that was certain
to come when I looked into the
face of my friend - a dead man
walking. I needed to be standing
when he got to my cell. I felt it would
be inappropriate and disrespectful
to be sitting, but I also felt like I
had a ton of bricks strapped to my
back, and I struggled to rise to
my feet. As I did, my steely resolve
began to melt away like ice cream on
a summer day.
Within seconds. Hashi was at my
cell with his hand thrust through
the bars in search of mine, and in
that one gesture my resolve dissi-
pated to nothing. I grasped his
hand with mine and reached my
other arm out the bars, and hugg-
ed him. "I Love you, brother," is
all I could manage. The dam
broke and my eyes flooded with

[3]
tears. Hashi squeezed my hand
one final time and told me, "I
Love you, too, Little brother," and
walked away. In that moment,
there was a dignity and grace
to him that I had never seen. Even
in what were to be his final days,
he was still teaching, and I was
still Learning. I sat back down
and sat vigil for the next three
days.
We all knew that Hashi had
about 72 hours to live. And as it
is with all who are transported
to the "death house," we prayed for
that last minute stay of execution,
but God decided to say "no" this
time, and at 12:07 a.m., Hashi was
pronounced dead by lethal injection.
Several years Later. God said "yes,"
and I am alive today, and no Longer
on death row. Now, if I could only
get him to say "yes" to easing this
never - ending pain of Loss.

- Tony Enis


Tony Enis N82931
P.O. Box 1000
Menard, IL 62259

www.freetonyenis.com


[postmarked envelope pre-labeled with mailing address]
Tony Enis N82931
P.O. Box 1000
Menard, IL 62259