A segment on NPR's "This American Life," this morning featured the story of a San Quentin prisoner and his chances for parole. In California, even if the Parole Board recommends parole for a prisoner (a rare event), the Governor can reverse it. Which Schwarzenegger did in this case. A model prisoner, the man was crushed. Eventually he was released, after a court case determined that some prisoners must be released on parole, if the possibility of parole is part of their sentence.
I thought about the number of men I've signed up at the Food Pantry who've told that they've just been released from prison. They have nothing. They are among the most grateful and vulnerable clients I've met, which is completely at odds with how I used to view prisoners: scary, dangerous, to be avoided at all costs. Now I think, what are they going to do? How're they going to make their way in this world? They've got one hell of a steep mountain to scale. Boggles the mind.
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