news
Jason Baldwin to wed
Jason Baldwin, the youngest of the Arkansas inmates known as the West Memphis Three, announced yesterday that he plans to be married in January. Baldwin, currently imprisoned at Tucker, AR., is serving a controversial life sentence for the 1993 murders of three children. He was 16 at the time of those murders.
Few details of the wedding have been set, but it will have to conform to restrictions set by the Arkansas Department of Correction. Baldwin said the ADC requires that inmates planning to marry attend a marriage counseling class conducted by a prison chaplain, and that only six guests will be allowed at the wedding. He added, though, that he and his bride-to-be will be allowed “to find a minister” of their choice.
Baldwin also reported he has been given a new work assignment. He is now one of two clerks who handle office work for the prison’s two field majors. The majors oversee seven horseback “riders.” Each rider manages a “hoe squad” comprised of 125 inmates.
The hoe squads work in the prison’s farm fields, growing produce mainly for prison consumption. Baldwin said his new job is to keep track of “time, tools, and training” for the large field operation.
