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

Best of luck to him.

This is a great suggestion.

So say your getting him in on ruby or python or mobile dev, start taking him along to as many meetups as you can find. A bar camp or RailsCamp would be great to.

The hackerspace movement is very open and accepting and beginner friendly IMHO, I'd get him in on that too.

If he can build up a community in tech around him then the code part has a good foundation to thrive in. Think of his needs in terms of 'structures for success'.

Because it's damn near impossible to make an honest living with a felony conviction on your record in the current economy. The mentality of "Why should you get the same as honest men like me" is one that has societal costs, but it is a third rail of politics, as no congressman is going to make an argument for lighter sentencing, or easier integration of felons. In reality, all felony sentences are life sentences, and this is something we need to fix.

Yes, really. If you need to brush up on your social skills, it's the go-to guide. You can practice it even without having close personal or business relationships… on anybody you meet on the street, in a shop, online, etc. It's a little bit cheesy, but not at all scummy… the basic advice is something everyone should follow, and yet most do not. Following the advice is something that can set anyone apart from the crowd (in a positive way)... ESPECIALLY in the tech world.

#2 With those social skills, and what he's learning technically, my second bit of advice would be to tackle it on. Be up front about the mistake. When he applies for a job or talks to someone, he should tell them. Not Scarlet Letter-style, but in a way like this:

"I came by xyz lessons the hard way. I was really stupid at jkl age… it's hard to believe how stupid! But there's nobody more than me who knows the value of abc."

Help him figure out how this experience has made him BETTER. Sometimes the hard way is the best way to learn something.

It sounds like he's learned a lot in his time behind bars… dedication, for one. Most people never complete a master's much less in such adverse circumstances. Maybe he learned the lesson about making decisions in emotional circumstances. Maybe now he's a calm, cool, cautious individual… or maybe he's just not going to jump the gun. Maybe he learned something about surviving in tough social situations. How to befriend difficult people. Or something else, equally powerful.

One thing: If he hides his past, it'll only come back to bite him, when people find out about it via background checks. If he owns it, and sounds mature, and honest, then that'll be a feather in his cap. He didn't murder anyone; he made a crime against property. You can recover from that, socially.

#3 He should write about it. He should write about learning programming (or whatever he decides to tackle), doing his master's program in prison, will he finish his PhD, etc. People trust a person who is honest about his flaws (maybe more than they should, sometimes!), and they love a person who can communicate. They also love somebody who they can learn from. Plus writing is a very valuable skill, and it could do a lot to rehabilitate a person's image.

Best of luck to your friend.