James Tramel

James Tramel is an Episcopal priest who was ordained while serving prison time for murder, and the first convict ever ordained in the Episcopal Church while still in prison. [ [http://www.thewitness.org/article.php?id=873 The Witness: Who Will Speak Up For Them?] ] Soon after being paroled from prison in 2006, he became rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in San Francisco. He has been a public spokesman for prisoners' rights, testifying in favor of parole for juvenile offenders [ [http://www.youthlaw.org/juvenile_justice/lwop_bill/fr_tramel_s_testimony/ James Tramel: Statement before the Public Safety Committee of the California State Senate] ] and supporting prisoner-victim reconciliation programs [ [http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4176/is_20061024/ai_n16798136 Oakland Tribune: Prison program aims at rape prevention] ] .

Tramel was 17 years old and attending Northwestern Preparatory School, a private military preparatory academy in Santa Barbara. He had been nominated to the United States Air Force Academy by Senator Barry Goldwater. On August 3 1985, Tramel participated in the fatal stabbing of a 29-year-old transient in a park in Santa Barbara, mistaking his identity for that of a rival gang member. [ [http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20094133,00.html A Teenage Game of War and Revenge Ends in the Stabbing Death of An Innocent Drifter] , "People", July 21, 1986 Vol. 26 No. 3] Tramel and his then-roommate were both sentenced to a mimimum of 15 years in prison for second-degree murder. [ [http://www.gracecathedral.org/enrichment/dispatches/dis_20021120.shtml Called Forth from Jail: A Prison Seminarian Hopes for Ordination and Freedom] ] While in prison he took correspondence courses, earning an undergraduate degree in business and a master's degree in theology. [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/03/13/PRIEST.TMP San Francisco Chronicle: From the prison cell to the pulpit] ] He was ordained in 2005, while still an inmate at Solano State Prison, by Bishop William E.Swing. [ [http://www.gracecathedral.org/enrichment/dispatches/dis_20050705.shtml Grace Cathedral Dispatch: Inmate ordained to priesthood in Solano State Prison] ]

Swing harshly criticized Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in 2004 when the governor denied Tramel's parole, calling Schwarzenegger "a 90-pound moral weakling". In March 2006, Schwarzenegger reversed his decision and paroled Tramel. [ [http://articles.latimes.com/2006/mar/10/local/me-parole10 Los Angeles Times: Inmate Who Became a Priest Is Paroled by Gov.] ]

Immediately upon his parole, Tramel began serving as an assistant pastor at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Berkeley, California. On July 1 of that year, he took the position of interim rector at St. Alban's Church in Albany, California, but left it the following February to become rector of Trinity Church. [ [http://www.ebdailynews.com/article/2007-2-9-02-09-07-eb-pastor East Bay Daily News: Convict-turned-priest leaving Albany] ]

In July 2008, he was suspended for two years from his ministry for alleged sexual misconduct with a parishioner. [ [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/07/18/BAOR11OVUF.DTL San Francisco Chronicle: Episcopal Church under fire for parolee priest] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.thestreetspirit.org/June2006/interview.htm Interview with James Tramel] , "Street Spirit", June 2006
* [http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2007/may/19/from-darkness-to-light/ A convicted murderer's journey takes him from a prison cell to the pulpit and parenting] , "Ventura County Star", May 2007
* [http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0603/13/pzn.01.html CNN Transcript] , "CNN", March 13 2006
* [http://www.youthlaw.org/juvenile_justice/lwop_bill/fr_tramel_s_testimony/ A statement from Tramel] , discusses his case before the Public Safety Committee of the California State Senate, April 27 2007