Dear Kid CAT,
I’m a youth offender and have been incarcerated since 1994. I’m now 41 years old. I was convicted of first-degree murder facing the death penalty. I took a deal for 25 years-to-life.
In 2014, I went to the parole board and was denied five years for being violent. The parole board only lets out who they want. We dwell on hope and faith way too much and lack reality. They let a few people out and everybody gets all happy. My question is, how long does hope and faith last? Why do we continue to trick our minds to have hope and faith? Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to get out. But reality is, I don’t think I’ll get out. It’s because of my crime, law enforcement was involved. It’s good to have hope, but understand reality. I’m a gang member dropout and I did a lot of programs, and the board just looked at me crazy.
Sincerely, Jessie F.
California State Prison, Corcoran
Dear Jessie,
We recently received a letter from a gentleman who was also recently denied five years at his parole board hearing in August and we found his words really inspiring and applicable to your situation. We feel it was best for someone who has gone through what you have gone through and has served a similar amount of time to answer your questions. Here’s what he said:
