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Ask HN: Any advice for someone getting out of prison after 18 years?

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Re: Ask HN: Any advice for someone getting out of prison after 18 years?

#11

Post by chank »

eduardordm wrote: post #2

First, a rant: I always get shocked about how the US justice system works, where punishing (and revenge) is obviously more important than protecting humans. He should have been released as soon as he posed no threat to others. If the US keeps its current course there will be more people inside prisons than outside of them in the future. He certainly has a lot of expectations. I can only imagine the pressure he is put…

Remember, the US prison system is for profit. So that probably had something to do with his lengthy term.

Re: Ask HN: Any advice for someone getting out of prison after 18 years?

#13

Post by newbie12 »

tesmar2 wrote: post #3

First off, great job in being involved in this guy's life. He really needs people like you to help him get on his feet and recover. I'd say introduce him to a recruiter who has a lot of connections and can get something going for him. If that doesn't pan out, perhaps some biz owner here on HN might hire him.

Wow this is naive. Nobody is going to hire a felon parolee for anything other than menial work. I don't think there are recruiters for washing dishes.

The only hope, as the OP says, is to figure out a way to market a tech skill directly, or to start something on his own.

Re: Ask HN: Any advice for someone getting out of prison after 18 years?

#14

Post by syedkarim »

kjackson2012 wrote: post #6
eduardordm wrote: post #2

First, a rant: I always get shocked about how the US justice system works, where punishing (and revenge) is obviously more important than protecting humans. He should have been released as soon as he posed no threat to others. If the US keeps its current course there will be more people inside prisons than outside of them in the future. He certainly has a lot of expectations. I can only imagine the pressure he is put…

He shouldn't have committed the crime in the first place. End of story. If he knew that bank robbing was a crime and he committed it anyway, he deserves whatever punishment was meted out to him. People could (or may) have been killed over his greed for money. That being said, I have no problems with the notion of helping ex-cons try to turn their lives around, after they've paid their debt to society. I am a supporte…

He told me the details of his crime: No one was injured. And he has completed his entire sentence.

Re: Ask HN: Any advice for someone getting out of prison after 18 years?

#15

Post by Cushman »

hvs wrote: post #4
eduardordm wrote: post #2

First, a rant: I always get shocked about how the US justice system works, where punishing (and revenge) is obviously more important than protecting humans. He should have been released as soon as he posed no threat to others. If the US keeps its current course there will be more people inside prisons than outside of them in the future. He certainly has a lot of expectations. I can only imagine the pressure he is put…

I'm all for challenging the current US justice system, but I'm not sure why "posed no threat" is your only standard for who should be in prison. He did actually violate the property rights of other people. Prison, in mine and many others' opinions, is not just about rehabilitation.

Then slap an anklet on him and make him say sorry once a week until you're satisfied.

"You violated our property rights, so we're going to feed, clothe, and house you for the next twenty years and resent you for it" is something a crazy person would say.

Re: Ask HN: Any advice for someone getting out of prison after 18 years?

#16

Post by mylittlepony »

kjackson2012 wrote: post #6
eduardordm wrote: post #2

First, a rant: I always get shocked about how the US justice system works, where punishing (and revenge) is obviously more important than protecting humans. He should have been released as soon as he posed no threat to others. If the US keeps its current course there will be more people inside prisons than outside of them in the future. He certainly has a lot of expectations. I can only imagine the pressure he is put…

He shouldn't have committed the crime in the first place. End of story. If he knew that bank robbing was a crime and he committed it anyway, he deserves whatever punishment was meted out to him. People could (or may) have been killed over his greed for money. That being said, I have no problems with the notion of helping ex-cons try to turn their lives around, after they've paid their debt to society. I am a supporte…

"He shouldn't have committed the crime in the first place"

It's always easy to judge in hindsight.

"If he knew that bank robbing was a crime and he committed it anyway"

So it would be 0K if he didn't know?

Re: Ask HN: Any advice for someone getting out of prison after 18 years?

#17

Post by scarmig »

kjackson2012 wrote: post #6
eduardordm wrote: post #2

First, a rant: I always get shocked about how the US justice system works, where punishing (and revenge) is obviously more important than protecting humans. He should have been released as soon as he posed no threat to others. If the US keeps its current course there will be more people inside prisons than outside of them in the future. He certainly has a lot of expectations. I can only imagine the pressure he is put…

He shouldn't have committed the crime in the first place. End of story. If he knew that bank robbing was a crime and he committed it anyway, he deserves whatever punishment was meted out to him. People could (or may) have been killed over his greed for money. That being said, I have no problems with the notion of helping ex-cons try to turn their lives around, after they've paid their debt to society. I am a supporte…

He "deserves whatever punishment was meted out to him"? What if the law dictated life in prison, or the death penalty, or for him to be drawn and quartered?

People, particularly young men in their early 20s, mess up. He certainly needed to be put in prison for years, but decades? The person someone is when they're 30 is wildly different from who they were when they were 20, biologically.

Even if his crime actually ended in someone being injured or killed.

Re: Ask HN: Any advice for someone getting out of prison after 18 years?

#18

Post by syedkarim »

newbie12 wrote: post #7
eduardordm wrote: post #2

First, a rant: I always get shocked about how the US justice system works, where punishing (and revenge) is obviously more important than protecting humans. He should have been released as soon as he posed no threat to others. If the US keeps its current course there will be more people inside prisons than outside of them in the future. He certainly has a lot of expectations. I can only imagine the pressure he is put…

You don't know the details of the crime. For a sentence that long, it likely involved a firearm or some type of physical violence. Protecting the public probably meant locking this guy up until he reached middle age. Having said that, now that he's paid his debt, it does seem like the system should do more to help him return to productive society.

Yes, a firearm was involved. It was not, however, discharged. Nor was anyone injured during the offense. This was his first offense; he thought (irrational, of course) it was his only option after his small business started falling apart.

Re: Ask HN: Any advice for someone getting out of prison after 18 years?

#19

Post by ExpiredLink »

> and have been telling him that his only chance of financial independence is through writing code

I don't get this. Neither will "writing code" make him more "independent" than other jobs nor is it likely that he will get a job in this field.

Re: Ask HN: Any advice for someone getting out of prison after 18 years?

#20

Post by pbj »

"and have been telling him that his only chance of financial independence is through writing code"

There are tons of trade skills that he could learn quickly at a local community college. Plumbers, electricians, auto mechanics, hvac repair, etc.. can make seriously good money and his felony would likely not be as big of a factor either. Especially if he went into business himself.

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