Yesterday was our nation’s celebration of Independence Day. I had a lot of time to reflect on this holiday here in prison, as in here, we have nothing but time.
Our forefathers sought to form a democracy free from a tyrannical rule, and offer a new way of governing devoid of the stronghold of a king. We are a young country, compared to others, and have made many mistakes along the way in our goals of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. I believe our history is important to reflect on in its entirety so that we may learn from our mistakes and not repeat them. Censoring our history, or whitewashing it, is much like our nation pleading not guilty in a federal trial, and then sealing the court records.
Just as I and others in all federal prisons have been convicted and asked to pay for our crimes, so should others who seek to oppress others. We are an imperfect nation, composed of imperfect people, pointing their fingers at everyone else rather than facing accountability for their actions. Every single adult person in this country has committed a crime. Yes, you read that right. Every. Single. Person. While incarcerated, I have picked up the hobby of learning about various odd felonies and misdemeanors in our laws. If you were to take the time to do so, you will see that you too, have committed a crime in your lifetime.
The difference between those of us in prison, and others not convicted of a felony, is that we were prosecuted and convicted of our crimes. Our lives were put on blast by the media, our families disrupted, our lives forever changed. Judgment came not only from our accusers, but from the prosecutor, the judge and the court of public opinion. Many of us had cases in which the prosecution and federal government embellished, exaggerated and overstated their accusations. Hearing people lie about you and your character in a courtroom is humbling, to say the least.
In working with the inmates to prepare their Release Plans and Commutation applications for the President, I am learning a lot about the women in this prison and the “crimes” they are being held accountable for. After 8 months of learning about their convictions, and the sentences imposed upon them, I have thoughts on how we could have true justice in our system:
1- The federal officers and detectives should not be permitted to lie to those suspected of crimes. If they do, they should be called out for it in court.
2- The prosecution should not be able to threaten a defendant with more prison time if they plead “Not Guilty”. There is a reason federal prosecutors have a 98% success rate in their cases- it’s because most of them do this.
3- A sentence should fit the crime itself, and not be arbitrarily a “mandatory minimum” of prison time. For example, if you are a non-violent, first time offender of a white collar crime, this should be a civil case, not a felony conviction. Most of these cases are made of people who had no intent of breaking the law. Should you do the same thing again? Then obviously you are a criminal who needs the harsh punishment of a felony conviction and prison time.
4- For those with felony drug distribution convictions, their crime should not simply be a 10+ year prison sentence. This does nothing for most convicted of this crime, as they won’t truly learn (most of the time) what harm they caused in drug trafficking to the communities battling drugs. Those convicted of these crimes should be trained and subjected to a sentence involving helping those with addictions to the drugs they were selling detox and recover from their addictions. They should see first hand how these drugs affect others, and hopefully this will deter them from continuing this lifestyle. Most of the people I know in prison who are here for those crimes never realized the impact they were having on others. Once they realized this, they truly wanted to change their ways. A 10+ year sentence for this crime is excessive and cruel.
5. If you have a drug charge, you should not automatically receive a felony gun charge unless the gun is on your person. Ghost gun charges are an overstep.
6. Conspiracy charges should not be a thing. Period.
7. Felony convictions which are non-violent in nature should have a 7 year time limit, and then be sealed.
8. You should not be able to buy your way out of a conviction.
To deter most of the crimes occurring, we need to address the social determinants of health in this country. It truly is a huge challenge for most people in prison to afford the basic necessities of shelter, clothing, food and transportation. Seeing how “prison character” is in here shows me the mindset of those imbedded in lifestyles of criminal activity too. I believe if people learn about how their crimes affected those impacted, and see it first hand, they would have true remorse and want to do better. We should be teaching and encouraging compassion, not division. We shouldn’t be blaming a victim of circumstances, we should be holding people accountable. And finally, we should realize that anyone, ANYONE is one step away of their life being turned upside down with a felony conviction in this nation, should the federal government choose to make your crime their mission to prosecute.
In my pursuit of the American dream of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, I will continue to advocate for and educate others. My dream is that one day we will put aside our differences and realize that we all are worthy of love, compassion and grace. Our definition of the American dream has become too materialistic. Chasing the “next big thing”, selfishness and clout have overshadowed human decency. I hope we learn our lessons from our past and truly make our nation united, one nation, under all.
