Despair

New York's Sentencing Laws Are Biased and Geared Towards Targeting Black & Brown People Of Various Ethnicity To Maximize The Most Incarceration Time The State Can Get.

My Experience In and Of Itself Was Unique, In That Not Only Was I WRONGFULLY CONVICTED Under A Unconstitutional Capital Punishment Statue, I Was Sentenced The Same Under This Unconstitutional Statute Too Life Without The Possibility Of Parole.

Because It Was A Capital Punishment Case, There Was No Provision For A Plea Deal, Not That I Would Have Excepted/Taken One Anyway! I Would Have Still Went To Trial As I Did Because I Was Not and Still I Am Not Guilty Of What I Was Falsely & Wrongfully Convicted Of.

There Wasn't Even A Mandatory Minimum For The Top Count/Charge I Was Convicted Of, Life Without Parole Is The Sentence. Not To Mention, I Was Actually Given A Separate Sentence For Each Charge/ Count In My Case. So, As I Think About It, By Design (if I'm not mistaken) This Puts Me Under The Three Strike Laws / Makes Me A Predicate or Persistent Felon However, I'm Not Sure About That.

What I Do Know Is That After I Was Falsely/Wrongfully Convicted and Later Sentenced, I Remember Thinking I've Just Been Set up and Railroaded To Be Killed By A Slow Death To Die In Prison. And I Felt Hopeless.

The Sentence Of Life Without The Possibility Of Parole Has Left Me and My Family (Myself Mostly) In A Perpetual State Of Despair! So Much So To The Point That Instead Of Attempting To Cope, Most Of My Family Has Gone On To Live Their Lives As If I No Longer Exist Rather Then Languish In That Despair. It Destroyed My Relationship and/or Perpetuated The Lack There Of, Of A Relationship With My Children. My Being Sentenced To Life Without The Possibility Of Parole Effectively Destroyed My Family.

Even In Spite Of The State That Prison Put Me & My Family In I Have Done The Best I Can To Rise Above What I Have Been Forced To Be Limited To. However Because There Is No Provision For Someone Such As Myself (With A Sentence Of Life Without Parole/Natural Life) Beyond Basic Academic Achievement and Trade Skills I Have Done The Best I Can On My Own To Elevate Myself Educationally As Well As Spiritually.

Had The Second Look Act Already Been In Place Not Only Would I Have Been Able To Participate In and Obtain Certification In Certain Programs, I Also Would Have Been Afforded The Opportunity To Enroll In College and Earn Various Degrees.

So, The Second Look Act Is Not Only Necessary ; It Is Essential To Both The Criminal Justice and Prison Systems In New York State. The Second Look Act Would Causally & Effectively Erase The Despair, Feelings Of Loneliness and Worthlessness That Pervades New York States Criminal Justice & Prison Systems, While Intentionally Promoting Positive Growth & Self-Improvement In Prisoners / The Incarcerated, And Deliberately Giving Those The Education & Skills To Return To Their Respective Communities As Productive Members. Thus Erasing The Stigma That The New York State Criminal Justice & Prison Systems Are Predominantly Designed For Sentencing and Warehousing Black & Brown People As Human Chattel ; That For All, The True Intent Of Incarceration Is About/For Rehabilitation.

What It Would Mean For Me To Have A Second Look ... The Difference It Would Make (Not Just For Myself But Also For Countless Others) Is That It Would/Will Show That I Am Not The Sum, Gist or Crux Of The Circumstances & Crime That Lead To Me Being In Prison and Holds Me Incarcerated.

Legislators and Government Officials/Members Should Know That These Bills (and By Passing Them/Signing Them Into Law) Would Not Only More Intently Hold New York States Prison System/DOCCS Accountable For Government Funded Programs Both State & Federal But, More Critically These Bills Would/Will Revolutionize (Not Only) The New York State Criminal Justice & Prison Systems/Institutions Of Incarceration In Such A Way To Change The State & Conditions In Prisons and Have A Profoundly Positive Impact On/In Black & Brown Communities.

To Date Mass Incarceration Is Not Only Dehumanizing But Has and Is Progressively Worked/Working To Destabilize The Families & Communities Of Black & Brown People (of various ethnic backgrounds). Essentially Removing Three Generations Of Men From Households & Families. Starting From The 80's New Yorks Sentencing Laws Systematically & Strategically Changed In Stages To Progressively Met Out More & More Severe Sentences.

With Mandatory Minimum Sentences, Even With Nonviolent Crimes A Person Is Sentenced To A Determinate Number Of Years In Prison(s) Before Parole Eligibility, and While Incarcerated, Will Not Be Considered For or Afforded Certain Programs Until A Year Before That Mandatory Minimum/First Parole Hearing Date.

It's Important & Necessary To End/Eliminate Mandatory Minimums Because, It Would (Hopefully) Put Judges In The Frame Of Mind and Give Them Discretion From The Beginning To Consider Individual Factors & Circumstances In A Case (As They Already Should) and Not Just Hand Out Generic Sentences. Thus Making It Mandatory For A Person Upon Entry Of Incarceration To Immediately Be Eligible For and Placed In Programs (Both State & Federally Funded) That Are Geared Toward Behavior & Substance Abuse Treatment, As Well As Trade Training Programs. All While Holding NYS DOCCS Accountable For Rehabilitation.

Now When You Get Into Sentencing and Putting Into Place Earned Time and/or Expanding Good Time/Merit Time ; This Is Where You Begin To Revolutionize Prison Culture In A Profoundly Positive Way, While Simultaneously Beginning A Process Mending Not Only Individual Black & Brown Families But, Our Communities and Society As A Whole.

If These Bills Associated With Communities Not Cages Had Already Been Passed When Myself and Countless Others Were Charged and/or Incarcerated It Would Have Meant/Mean That We Would Work More Purposefully On Changing & Correcting Learned Behaviors (i.e. Factors & Circumstances) While Simultaneously Intently Acquiring Skills & Trades Not Only To Decrease My/Our Sentences But, Also To Return To Positively Affect Our Families & Communities.

10 Years From Now With The Bills Associated With Communities Not Cages In Place It Would Have Made The Criminal Justice & Prison Systems In New York State More Humane and Drastically Changed The Dynamics Of Families and The Landscapes Of Our Communities.