It was extremely heartbreaking for me to hear their tranquil voices calling the darkness of the prison to unfold, singing their lack of fear of the darkness, promising the prison that after the night's darkness, a dawn of an ascending glory would shine.
This month, David Cameron announced reforms that would see inmates as "potential assets to be harnessed", promising the prison education budget would be protected and quality teachers recruited.
There on the screen was Gov. George E. Pataki, proposing changes to the state's harsh Rockefeller-era drug laws, promising shorter prison terms for some offenders and saying that sentences might be reduced for others already behind bars.
The Internal Revenue Service has been strengthening offices that track overseas investments and recently announced that more than 7,500 people had come forward under an amnesty plan promising no prison time and reduced penalties for international tax cheats who surrendered.
On his first days in office, Obama fulfilled some of that promise by banning torture, closing secret CIA prisons, and promising to close the military prison camp at Guantanamo Bay.
Fake guides have also been reported hanging around outside the prison, promising tours and running off with money.
Snake Jailbird makes a deal with Bart to get him out of prison, promising him to "make it worth your while", to which Bart responses shorty afterwards "I'm listening".
Outlining counter-terrorism plans, Mr Obama condemned the Bush administration's "false choice" between constitutionally guaranteed freedoms and security, breezily promising to close the prison camp at Guantánamo Bay (a promise as yet unkept) and adhere to the rule of law.
President Obama came into office promising to close the prison there, which would have been a very good piece of housekeeping.
In Alabama, Judge Roy Moore has refused to remove from the wall of his courtroom handmade plaques displaying the commandments, promising to go to prison, if necessary, to keep them up.
