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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?

#81

Post by ucee054 »

scarmig wrote: post #17
kjackson2012 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 en…

I wonder what your response would have been if he had committed a similar crime but was an Afghan insurgent.

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

#82

Post by syedkarim »

evolve2k wrote: post #76

I would focus on helping him build community, the more community he has around him the better he'll cope, integrate and thrive. 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 c…

This was excellent, thanks. I wish he was not required to be in Indiana. I'll be moving to Chicago soon and that is a much more conducive environment to growing this kind of community (compared to northwest Indiana).

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

#83

Post by droithomme »

syedkarim wrote: post #14
kjackson2012 wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

OK, I have to ask though, did he use a gun or a threat of a gun? Or was this just one where he had a note that said put the money in a bag this is a robbery?

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

#84

Post by Someone »

outworlder wrote: post #23
hvs wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

What is it about then? I see only one reason for a person to be locked up: 1- He poses a threat to society and should be removed, as not to endanger others. Prison it is not about education, it is not about rehabilitation. It is required to keep dangerous individuals from causing further harm (the other option would be the capital punishment). Prisons are also used as punishment, but that's a side-effect. There are o…

Traditionally, there are three reasons for locking people up:

- punishment: you did something bad, so you should suffer.

- revenge: you did something bad to me; I'll be happy to see you suffer.

- prevention: you did something bad; to prevent you from repeating that (for a while), we'll lock you up.

Perhaps surprisingly, "paying back one's debt to society" does not figure here. Also, why do you think punishment would be paying back one's debts?

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

#85

Post by syedkarim »

jack-r-abbit wrote: post #79

Even with a masters degree, he's certainly going to have a smaller pool of job opportunities than a non-felon just by the fact he is a felon. But that doesn't mean there is not a bunch of opportunities for him. I've worked with several felons at different places. Programmers and IT. Not every company cares about that. Just like not every company cares to have you pass a drug test. But he should probably forget about…

His technology-paradigm is definitely not a modern one. For example, he doesn't really understand open source software; just the concept of it--and how good it can be.

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

#86

Post by alt2319 »

I'm a convicted federal felon. To top it off, it's a computer fraud conviction involving a former employer.

I used to think I'd never even be able to flip burgers for pay. I'm actually probably right - McDonalds would never hire me. But since my conviction I've worked a decent string of IT jobs.

First, he needs to understand that there are a lot of people with a criminal record. I've met plenty of people with criminal records (mostly DUI, fraud, and drug charges) that have been able to find normal work, raise kids, volunteer, etc. Every time I tell someone my story, they tell me that their gainfully employed brother / uncle / co-worker / etc. has a criminal record that I used to think would force someone into washing dishes for the rest of their career.

Second, he needs to make a clean break with anyone shady. I've had tempting inquiries and offers from friends-of-friends. He needs to find new friends. Take up a hobby, join a church, go to user groups and meetups, go back to school, etc. Something to find a new set of friends that will occupy his time with things that won't land him in trouble.

He should be able to leave Indiana, especially if he has work lined up. I'm a little unclear on that since I wasn't in the state system, but I think he can be somehow transferred to another jurisdiction's probation office or remotely report in.

I don't agree that his only chance is writing code, but it's certainly not a bad approach. I'd particularly suggest mobile apps. It's not steady work, but jobs on Fiverr.com could bring in some cash while he looks. There's also affiliate blogging / Pinterest Pinning. I could probably sit in a public library, pinning Amazon links a few hours a day and earn enough to get by.

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

#87

Post by cgag »

fearless wrote: post #68
SwellJoe wrote: post #49

I'm seeing a lot of "he got what he deserved" and "he's gonna have to wash dishes, nobody will hire him" kinds of comments here. This is one of the really broken elements of US culture. We have a culture of revenge and shaming, rather than healing and allowing reparations. This is why we have the highest prison population per-capita in the world; higher than China, higher than Russia, higher than Iran, higher than Cu…

I still don't think nonviolent drug crimes are the same as bank robbery. When you commit a bank robbery with a loaded firearm, you're telling society you have no problem taking a person's life for a little money. If people change, why is the recidivism rate for felons over 50%? And those are just the ones who get caught. Again, I'm speaking strictly to violent crimes here. Nonviolent/drug offenders should be treated…

I think there's a big difference between killing someone and threatening to do so. Though I also think it's entirely possible to kill someone and regret it and not do it again.

I think recidivism is high due to ridiculously long sentences, as well as the fact that our prisons are brutal hellholes that leave people much worse off psychologically than when they went in. And of course the fact that no one will give you a job.

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

#89

Post by marquis »

jlarocco wrote: post #77
SwellJoe wrote: post #49

I'm seeing a lot of "he got what he deserved" and "he's gonna have to wash dishes, nobody will hire him" kinds of comments here. This is one of the really broken elements of US culture. We have a culture of revenge and shaming, rather than healing and allowing reparations. This is why we have the highest prison population per-capita in the world; higher than China, higher than Russia, higher than Iran, higher than Cu…

If I'm hiring for a job, all other things being equal, why choose the felon? It's possible, maybe even likely, that the person was reformed in prison. But if I choose the non-felon, then I don't even have to worry about it. To be honest, though, it depends a heavily on what the person's crime was. Do I care that a guy got caught with a pound of weed? No. Do I care that he embezzled from his employer? Definitely. A gu…

>A guy who killed his cheating wife isn't a big concern

You have no problem keeping company with outed sociopaths?

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

#90

Post by syedkarim »

droithomme wrote: post #83
syedkarim wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

OK, I have to ask though, did he use a gun or a threat of a gun? Or was this just one where he had a note that said put the money in a bag this is a robbery?

He had a gun, though I don't know if it was actually displayed.
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