Such hard words, yet very true. I feel compelled to write this to all Lifers going to the Board. I am in no way, shape or form speaking about physical violence. Because I abhor any violence that hurts another human being. However, as I am writing this piece, I thought of all our Lifer brothers that have passed on, never having had another chance at freedom. Although many will argue that point, it is not the freedom I am speaking of. We should not wag and shake our heads when we hear of another Lifer brother expiring. Rather, we should look at ourselves and ask ourselves, “What am I doing to make sure that we spend our last days on the streets?” Living our last days as productive citizens, and showing our community that we indeed have changed. The fight that I am speaking of is contesting the illegal practices of the Board of Prison Hearings. The practice of illegally denying Lifers parole and in turn changing our 15-year-to-life and 25-year-to-life sentences to a death-in-prison sentence.
I opened my piece in this manner because recently a motion from the Attorney General was filed in a Lifer’s case that my bro is working on. The motion stated that the Attorney General’s office has assigned a total of 12 attorneys to the 700 Lifer cases that have been filed, contesting their denial of parole. That is a down-right shame that out of about 4,000 Lifer hearings held each year, only 700 hearings are being contested. That is really something to think about when you’re sitting at the pinochle table, while you are playing basketball all day, or exerting all of your energy to make the baseball team. It is a sad statistic to see that more Lifers have died in prison than have been paroled, when parole is supposed to be the rule rather than the exception. If you, fellow Lifer, think that all the chrono-chasing is going to get you out, think again! Although you are doing the best you can to show the Board that you have changed, do you really think they care? Think again, because the Board is not playing fair, nor do they care! After reading many transcripts and seeing their reasons for denial, I know that they do not care.
If you are waiting for another Lifer’s case to make a landmark decision to let you out, think again. The truth of the matter, my Lifer brother, is that you either fight or, sadly, you will die. Just marinate on this. Recently in the Mike Ngo case, evidence was provided that in June 2006, out of 245 parole hearings, 243 prisoners were denied parole because the Board found that the crimes were particularly egregious. If you happen to be one of those lottery parole date winners, what do you think your chances of ‘passing go’ are? With the Governor’s review? Think about it, when there are only 700 Lifer’s cases being litigated out of 4,000 hearings every year, don’t think that 700 cases are actually being contested annually, some of those cases may be carry-overs from lower court denials. That may mean that in two or three years, out of actually 12,000 hearings, only 700 are being contested.
When the time piece strikes twelve of another Lifer’s life in this world, do not wag or shake your head, do not blame the medical staff or any other entity. Rather, think about the efforts you put forth to prevent such an outcome. Think about how much advantage you took of all the programs and education programs that the warden has provided us with, and then in turn used that education to win your freedom. For those Lifers who have fought and died, I salute you. However, for us who are still alive, it is way beyond the time to do something in the legal arena. You are not dead yet, and it ain’t over til it’s over. If you want help ask around, there are many who are willing to help you. Because when it is all said and done and all the excuses are used up, you are either going to fight or die—or die trying.
