A youth offender gained his freedom through hard work, perseverance, and employment in the California’s State Capitol.
As a child with an unstable home life, Jarad Nava longed for respect, according to an article in The Los Angeles Times. After multiple moves and a traumatic event walking in on his stepfather attempting suicide, he became determined to prove himself. His criminal history began with petty crimes, fighting, and vandalism, which led to carrying a gun, escalating into violence.
“The more violent you were, the more you felt like you were respected and feared,” Nava told The Times. “So much in life felt so powerless.”
Nava was riding in a car when it pulled alongside a Lexus sedan, occupied by what he thought was a rival gang members of his “Don’t Care Crew.” He shot multiple rounds into the car, severing the spine of one of the occupants and grazing the leg of another.
Nava was offered a plea deal of 30 years but turned it down. Then 17, he was tried as an adult for attempted murder and possession of a short-barreled shotgun and was sentenced to 162 years. But at the sentencing, the survivors addressed the court, offering forgiveness. Moved by the love they expressed, Nava committed to make amends.
“As I got older and I really understood the gravity of what I had done,” Nava told The Times, “I’ll say that it was extremely humbling that somebody who had experienced such a wrongdoing could find it in their hearts to forgive me in that moment.”
In prison, he earned a GED and then an Associate’s Degree in Business and Technology. He participated in self-help groups such as Criminals and Gang Members Anonymous, Alternatives to Violence, and Narcotics Anonymous. Then he met film producer Scott Budnick, founder of the Anti-Recidivism Coalition, who was teaching a creative writing class.
“You know when someone is remorseful, and you know when they have some of those core qualities that can make them very successful? I saw all of that in him,” Budnick said in the article. He eventually produced a documentary called “They Call Us Monsters” focusing on three teens charged as adults, including Nava.
Christopher Hawthorn, director of the Fair Sentencing Clinic, saw the documentary and believed Nava had been poorly represented at trial. In 2018, Hawthorn helped Nava put together a clemency application and forwarded the application to the California Governor’s office. In March of 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom commuted his sentence to 10 years to life, and Nava was released that December, more than 150 years ahead of schedule, the article said.
Budnick drove Nava to Sacramento, helping him settle in and look for work. He introduced Nava to Erika Contreras, secretary of the State Senate, who told Nava about an internship available at the Capitol.
Nava applied for the job and was hired. Now, at 28, he works for the Senate’s Public Safety Committee, with a reputation as a hard worker, stated the Times.
“As a group, we’re supportive of people being rehabilitated … Nava’s presence turns the abstract into flesh and blood, a reminder that policy affects people,” said Mary Kennedy, chief counsel of the committee.
