by Mike Williams
Lengthy sentences do not deter crime and neither do short sentences. What, then, can provide both fair sentencing, AND ensure public safety? If you will allow me to, I believe I can help answer this question from an informed perspective that you may not have considered before.
I am a long-time prisoner. I have been incarcerated within the California State Prison System now for going on 30 years. The first couple of those years were spent in the Los Angeles County Jail. The next 18 years were spent on level IV mainline prison yards, before quitting the mainline, with all of its inmate politics and violence, by entering into the so-called “Sensitive Needs” program. And through my positive programming and rehabilitative efforts, I have worked my way down to a level II facility (even with a Life w/o the Possibility of Parole sentence). So I have amassed quite a bit of experience in what works and what doesn’t within the system.
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