“NOTHING HAS CHANGED”
Today, the harsh reality of justice is that nothing has changed.
I was recently DENIED compassionate release after almost 28 years of incarceration.
The only thing the judge had to say was that I was still a danger to society.
BUT…this OPINION was rooted 100% in the past with absolutely no regard for my post-incarceration rehabilitation efforts.
For example, I have not had an incident report since 1999.
I have earned an Associate Degree in Liberal Arts from Talladega College.
I have earned a 4,000 Apprenticeship as a Quality Control Technician from the U.S. Department of Labor.
I am a Master Microsoft Application Specialist.
BUT…none of this mattered to my judge.
All he wanted to discuss or JUDGE me on was 1993 to 1996.
Supposedly, there are (4) principle aims of incarceration.
1. Isolation, 2. deterrence, 3. punishment and 4. rehabilitation.
BUT, tragically for me in Alabama only the first three are legitimate concerns for the courts to consider.
I was sentenced under an “ERRONEOUS APPLICATION” of the 924(c) stacking penalty that was “clarified” in the passage of the First Step Act of 2018.
I was sentenced to a 95 year total term of incarceration with the “unintended” application of an (85) year 924(c) penalty being the “lion’s share.”
My name is Reginald Woods and I have the unfortunate luck of having been sentenced in the most backwards thinking state in America…Alabama.
In Alabama, it is all about Retribution…not Rehablitation.
“WELCOME TO ALABAMA…YA’LL.”
Where the law is still “one-sided” and absolutely nothing has changed.
