 |
| "Why is it so hard to give deserving individuals like myself a second chance?" |
The following heartfelt piece was sent to me recently by Jonathan White, an outstanding inmate with whom I correspond at Augusta Correctional Center:
Virginia is rethinking its parole system after realizing that its "get tough on crime campaign" has depleted financial resources that could have been used to help rebuild the infrastructure of the Commonwealth and provide quality educational services to our schools.
But the political money hogs have selfishly denied that abolishing parole in 1995 was a mistake. Now twenty-two years later there are still approximately 2500 "old law offenders" throughout the Virginia Department of Corrections who still remain parole eligible, having the possibility of parole attached to the terms and conditions of their sentences prior to parole being abolished. Most of them like myself have been before the Virginia Parole Board numerous times pleading our cases and hoping for to be granted a discretionary parole release only to be denied parole due to the "serious nature and circumstances of the offense(s)" and the use of other words and terms that the parole board uses to deny parole to deserving persons who have been incarcerated for decades.
By the standards set forth under the Virginia Code of Law Section 53.1-155 which states..."Virginia law requires the Parole Board to release those found suitable for parole and consider a broad range of circumstances in making this determination;" many of us are never given any "meaningful consideration" for what we have done in the long decades of time that we have had to wait between the time we were sentenced and our hopeful point of becoming eligible for parole.
Parole eligibility doesn't just automatically come about once a person walks through the doors of a prison. It is calculated in accordance with a persons good conduct time credits earned due to his/hers good behavior. But the public is often misled to believe that a person is about to walk right out of the penal system as soon as they arrive. "How about 37 years of good conduct and a model prison record of rehabilitation later?"
My first parole eligibility came on December 27, 1998. With the multiple life sentence I received on September 24, 1982; I have been before the Virginia Parole Board a total of 14 times out of the 19 years that I have been eligible for parole. I also received three separate deferrals of my parole consideration during the course of those years of eligibility. In all, it took me 17 years with three years of earned "good conduct allowance" for good behavior to become eligible to receive the repeated denials that I have received from the Parole Board.
Yes, the math adds up to 37 years of incarceration with a exemplary model record, positive behavioral adjustment, and a continuous progressive path of rehabilitation with the goal to return to society as a productive law abiding citizen. Does it matter that such a continued productive course of rehabilitative conduct deserves "a meaningful consideration"? From the looks of it the answer is...No! So the question to be answered is... "When is a person considered to be suitable for release?"
I have seen first hand the caliber of individuals the parole board has deemed suitable for release throughout these long years of incarceration, and it puzzles the mind of the best of us as to the method of their decision making. Individuals who have remained infraction free and who have stayed true to the course of the rehabilitative path are the least likely individuals to be granted parole.
Rather than assessing the individual on the merits of his/her positive progression to reform their life, or amend for their past behavior, the parole board chooses individuals with long patterns of misconduct or behavioral adjustment problems for to be granted parole. Most parole decisions are based on the Boards' personal feelings and opinions pertaining to a type of criminal offense (crime) and not on the merits of the individual being considered for release.
Let's face it, people change, and if you are a first term offender like myself and you have not taken a close examination of your life and made any sincere commitments toward changing yourself your poor past behavior, then why should you be granted the privilege of parole before those who have applied themselves to the path of rehabilitation? As an "Old Law Offender" and "First Term Offender" who deserves a meaningful consideration for parole; I simply ask to be treated fairly.
Fact: As of January 2017, Old Law eligible offenders" totaled 2,765. As of January 1, 2018, that total has increased by 260, plus all of the "Three Strikers" who will also be added to the parole eligible count. The number of releases for all of 2017 are approximately six percent of the January total.
Why is it so hard to give deserving individuals like myself meaningful consideration for parole?
Jonathan D. White - parole eligible lifer #1161021 - #128952
Augusta Correctional Center
But the political money hogs have selfishly denied that abolishing parole in 1995 was a mistake. Now twenty-two years later there are still approximately 2500 "old law offenders" throughout the Virginia Department of Corrections who still remain parole eligible, having the possibility of parole attached to the terms and conditions of their sentences prior to parole being abolished. Most of them like myself have been before the Virginia Parole Board numerous times pleading our cases and hoping for to be granted a discretionary parole release only to be denied parole due to the "serious nature and circumstances of the offense(s)" and the use of other words and terms that the parole board uses to deny parole to deserving persons who have been incarcerated for decades.
By the standards set forth under the Virginia Code of Law Section 53.1-155 which states..."Virginia law requires the Parole Board to release those found suitable for parole and consider a broad range of circumstances in making this determination;" many of us are never given any "meaningful consideration" for what we have done in the long decades of time that we have had to wait between the time we were sentenced and our hopeful point of becoming eligible for parole.
Parole eligibility doesn't just automatically come about once a person walks through the doors of a prison. It is calculated in accordance with a persons good conduct time credits earned due to his/hers good behavior. But the public is often misled to believe that a person is about to walk right out of the penal system as soon as they arrive. "How about 37 years of good conduct and a model prison record of rehabilitation later?"
My first parole eligibility came on December 27, 1998. With the multiple life sentence I received on September 24, 1982; I have been before the Virginia Parole Board a total of 14 times out of the 19 years that I have been eligible for parole. I also received three separate deferrals of my parole consideration during the course of those years of eligibility. In all, it took me 17 years with three years of earned "good conduct allowance" for good behavior to become eligible to receive the repeated denials that I have received from the Parole Board.
Yes, the math adds up to 37 years of incarceration with a exemplary model record, positive behavioral adjustment, and a continuous progressive path of rehabilitation with the goal to return to society as a productive law abiding citizen. Does it matter that such a continued productive course of rehabilitative conduct deserves "a meaningful consideration"? From the looks of it the answer is...No! So the question to be answered is... "When is a person considered to be suitable for release?"
I have seen first hand the caliber of individuals the parole board has deemed suitable for release throughout these long years of incarceration, and it puzzles the mind of the best of us as to the method of their decision making. Individuals who have remained infraction free and who have stayed true to the course of the rehabilitative path are the least likely individuals to be granted parole.
Rather than assessing the individual on the merits of his/her positive progression to reform their life, or amend for their past behavior, the parole board chooses individuals with long patterns of misconduct or behavioral adjustment problems for to be granted parole. Most parole decisions are based on the Boards' personal feelings and opinions pertaining to a type of criminal offense (crime) and not on the merits of the individual being considered for release.
Let's face it, people change, and if you are a first term offender like myself and you have not taken a close examination of your life and made any sincere commitments toward changing yourself your poor past behavior, then why should you be granted the privilege of parole before those who have applied themselves to the path of rehabilitation? As an "Old Law Offender" and "First Term Offender" who deserves a meaningful consideration for parole; I simply ask to be treated fairly.
Fact: As of January 2017, Old Law eligible offenders" totaled 2,765. As of January 1, 2018, that total has increased by 260, plus all of the "Three Strikers" who will also be added to the parole eligible count. The number of releases for all of 2017 are approximately six percent of the January total.
Why is it so hard to give deserving individuals like myself meaningful consideration for parole?
Jonathan D. White - parole eligible lifer #1161021 - #128952
Augusta Correctional Center
1821 Estaline Valley Rd.
Craigsville, Virginia 24430
Here's a link to a list of Mr. White's impressive accomplishments during his incarceration that I posted four years ago: http://harvyoder.blogspot.com/2014/01/model-prisoner-repeatedly-denied-parole.html
Craigsville, Virginia 24430
Here's a link to a list of Mr. White's impressive accomplishments during his incarceration that I posted four years ago: http://harvyoder.blogspot.com/2014/01/model-prisoner-repeatedly-denied-parole.html
No comments:
Post a Comment