I empathize with the more than 2.4 million people who serve time in American prisons. Ever since my term began, I have worked to prepare myself so that I could become an effective spokesperson to bring about meaningful prison reform. As prisons currently operate, I am convinced that they miss opportunities to help offenders prepare for better lives. Instead of “correcting,” our nation’s prisons only warehouse human beings. That approach, according to my experience, has no place in an enlightened society.

Prison has been all that I have known since 1987. I was 23-years-old when I began serving my term and I am almost 45-years-old now. If laws remain the same, I expect that I will serve more than four more years before release will come. After more than a quarter century of being locked in prisons of every security level, many would think that I wouldn’t want to have anything to do with prisons after my release. Yet I expect that prison will always be a part of my life.

It is not only the lower classes who struggle through prisons. Those who serve time for white collar crimes, also, suffer from the loss of hope. Prisons separate individuals from family and community for years or decades at a time. Those in prison can benefit from positive role models who have endured the experience. After having served time in prisons in every security level, I feel confident that I can present positive messages to all people who are locked in prison. My experiences qualify me to deliver messages with credibility, and I hope that I can build a career that will help others achieve their highest potential.

Without question, prison has been the experience that has influenced my thoughts. Despite knowing that I would serve many decades inside, I knew that my adjustment inside prison would determine the life I could lead upon release. By focusing on educating myself and contributing to society, I could live with hope. That focus has enabled me to build a career as an author, to marry and build a family with an extraordinarily beautiful and talented woman, and to communicate with thousands of people through my Web site. The preparations I have made will keep me working with prisoners for the rest of my life. I hope to inspire others to grow in positive ways.

The post Prison as Part of my Future appeared first on Prison News Blog.

I keep track of my daily progress by recording my activities in a weekly planner. When this year began, I knew that we would have several events to help the time pass faster. This being an election year, my daily entries show that I’ve been following the primary elections closely. I subscribe to several news magazines to keep me current with political events, and most evenings I watch the national television news or listen to reports on NPR. This year there has been so much to follow.

As a long-term prisoner, I am especially hopeful that Barack Obama wins the White House. After the first three months of the year, his candidacy is the strongest, despite recent controversy over remarks from his former pastor. With Obama, I am convinced that America would end Bush’s war in Iraq, bring health care to all Americans, enjoy a better economy, and perhaps most important on a personal level, move toward real and meaningful prison reform.

Besides the legislation that an Obama Presidency may inspire, I’m pleased to see that the 2008 Congress has passed The Second Chance Act of 2007. According to a press release from the Bill’s sponsor, Representative Danny Davis, President Bush will sign this Bill into law at a signing ceremony on April 9, 2008. To me, this historic legislation bodes well for the possibility of programs that will enable those of us in confinement to build stronger ties to family and community. I have written an article and a speech that describes why the Second Chance Act encourages me. Readers who are interested may review those writings.

This quarter has given me several speaking opportunities as well. In mid-February I was able to travel to Bakersfield with our outreach program to speak with at-risk adolescents about the perils of criminal lifestyles. Besides that outing, I enjoyed the privilege of making presentations to audiences here at Taft Camp. In one speech, I spoke about the development of leadership skills and in another I described the Second Chance Act from a historical perspective. Speaking before large groups opens opportunities to build upon skills that will help my transition to society. I value those opportunities and devote scores of hours to preparation. For my speech on leadership I pulled information from several books that I recently read, and for my speech on the Second Chance Act I took detailed notes from many sources. After writing each speech, I practiced my delivery, devoting many hours in an effort to come across in a lucid, polished manner. Regardless of what career I pursue upon release, I am convinced that the development of effective communication skills will prove a valuable resource.

To that end, and as I outlined in my goals at the beginning of this year, I devote a significant amount of time to reading and writing each day. In the first quarter I read 12 books, each of which had a direct influence on my preparations for release. I’ve written a brief report on each book I read, and for some of those books I recorded detailed notes that will advance my writing projects.

I also spent hundreds of hours writing a new manuscript. Previously I wrote about that book with a working title 25 Years to the Door. I have written three versions of an opening sequence for that memoir. Each version had at least 15,000 words, but none satisfied me. I chucked them all. This memoir will be an important component of my release plan. Since I will not submit the manuscript for publication until I am much closer to release, I intend to continue working on the manuscript with hopes of creating a compelling memoir. I have changed the title, though, to The 45-Year Gift.

My exercise has been progressing in accordance with the schedule I set. In early March, I attempted to add evening tennis games to my routine. On my second night of playing, however, I snapped the muscle in my right calf. That injury has been plaguing me since. The pain put an immediate suspension to tennis. Worse than the loss of tennis games, it stopped my ability to run on the track. The pain is too severe. Fortunately, I’ve been able to exercise by running on the elliptical machine and exercise with the stair climber; as long as there is no heavy impact, I’m able to keep up with my goal of logging more than 40 miles each week, and more than seven hours of weekly exercise. My weight remains constant between 173 and 176 pounds.

In light of the Second Chance Act, I expect release to a halfway house no later than August of 2012. Release could possibly come as early as 2011, depending on a decision from the parole board. If Obama wins the Presidency, I anticipate prison reform could result in my release as soon as 2010. Because of these developments, my wife and I have had to make adjustments to our plans for my release.

Carole graduates from nursing school in May. Our original plans had been for her to continue advancing her professional credentials, however, as a consequence of my anticipated earlier release, Carole and I have decided that we should change those plans. Rather than continuing with another year of schooling, Carole will sit for the board exams to provide her with nationally recognized nursing credentials, followed by relocation to Kern County. That way, she can begin working and contributing to a savings plan that will help my transition to society. Her relocation will ease her commute for weekly visits as well.

I am immensely proud of both Carole and our daughter Nichole. Together we have set a plan in place, and this June Nichole will graduate one year ahead of schedule from high school while Carole brings more stability to our family with her nursing degree. We’re all enthusiastic about the opportunities we will open through the remainder of 2008 and beyond. The hefty monetary fine I received at sentencing in 1988 expired during the month of March, so Carole and I are free to make progress toward our financial security. Life is really moving forward in meaningful ways as I finish these final years in confinement.

Although I expect legislative changes that could advance my release date, the bottom line is that I have nearly 21 years of imprisonment behind me. I am moving closer to home, and I feel better than ever. The support I receive from so many is a blessing, and for that I am grateful.

The post First Quarter Report, Taft Prison Camp 2008 appeared first on Prison News Blog.

Besides the monthly field outings, the TOAD group meets each Monday afternoon to discuss the strategies for growth. Counselor Griffin and the other TOAD members have charged me with the responsibility of coordinating the one-hour meeting scheduled for Monday, November 5, 2007. In preparation for that meeting, I asked each TOAD member to be ready to describe the most influential book that he has read and tell the group how that book has influenced his life. My purpose in requesting each individual to share such information was to encourage the members to think about hope and self- empowerment. Frequently, when those of us in prison discuss our personal backgrounds, we spend too much time painting a picture of despair. The at-risk adolescents who listen to TOAD presentations have no shortage of struggle in their young lives. Many come from broken homes and live in neighborhoods filled with gang influences, drugs, and criminal lifestyles. They sit on the edge of their seats in anticipation of TOAD members descriptions. Yet I am convinced that providing audiences with strategies for building hope and self-empowerment, TOAD members can inspire the youngsters to make better decisions.

I intend to open the Monday meeting with a discussion on the importance of goals. I will discuss how goals relate to success and invite the other TOAD members to interact in the discussion. To provide one example of the importance I place on goal setting, I will read the 2 November Blog entry I wrote on the subject. Following that discussion, I will talk about Stephen Covey’s Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. That book has been influential in my life and I want to explain the ways that I incorporate those habits in my preparations for release. Then I will ask each TOAD member to discuss his book of choice. Finally, I will conclude the 1-hour meeting with a discussion of how delivering a message of hope can help our audiences and TOAD participants focus on success. I encourage those who have questions or comments on TOAD to post them here, or write me directly at Taft Camp.

The post Taft Prisoners Contributing to the Lives of Others appeared first on Prison News Blog.