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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?

#101

Post by pc86 »

syedkarim wrote: post #56
pc86 wrote: post #50

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Involving a firearm in the commission of a crime is an instant ticket on the Felony Express. If he hadn't had a gun (first offense or not, discharged or not, loaded or not, real or not) he likely would have been out a long time ago. When you have a gun in that situation the number of things that can go wrong increases by an order of magnitude. The adrenaline could make him pull the trigger when he didn't really mean…

What if the gun wasn't even loaded? Of course, this is absolutely irrelevant to the question. What's done is done. He just wants to move forward and I'm really more interested in helping him to find options.

Exactly what @tomjen3 said.

Even if you have a plastic toy you spray painted black, that's the same thing as having one in the chamber. The teller still thinks s/he is going to die.

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

#102

Post by jules »

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 don't think most other cultures even have a word for "felon".

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

#103

Post by jlarocco »

marquis wrote: post #89
jlarocco wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

I mean he's unlikely to be a repeat offender.

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

#104

Post by pavel_lishin »

jlarocco wrote: post #103
marquis wrote: post #89

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>A guy who killed his cheating wife isn't a big concern You have no problem keeping company with outed sociopaths?

I mean he's unlikely to be a repeat offender.

For that specific offense, sure - who's gonna marry him?

I would argue that someone who murdered his wife because she cheated on him probably has poor impulse control. All other things being equal, I'd give the job to the person who hasn't taken a life.

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

#105

Post by cema »

syedkarim wrote: post #54
kjackson2012 wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm glad, and I hope he is able to reintegrate back into society easily. There are programs like the Delancey Street program in SF that help ex-cons reintegrate by providing them with jobs and support. And then he should try to go to school and further educate himself at night time. Hopefully he gets a break, but he needs to realize it's a tough road ahead, since many people without criminal records are still unemplo…

Unfortunately, SF is infinitely more progressive than rural Indiana, so those types of programs will be harder to come by. But this suggestion will definitely go on the list.

The word progressive does not seem to mean what it used to mean.

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

#106

Post by syedkarim »

cema wrote: post #105
syedkarim wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Unfortunately, SF is infinitely more progressive than rural Indiana, so those types of programs will be harder to come by. But this suggestion will definitely go on the list.

The word progressive does not seem to mean what it used to mean.

What does it mean now? And what did it used to mean?

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

#107

Post by epo »

pavel_lishin wrote: post #104
jlarocco wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I mean he's unlikely to be a repeat offender.

For that specific offense, sure - who's gonna marry him? I would argue that someone who murdered his wife because she cheated on him probably has poor impulse control. All other things being equal, I'd give the job to the person who hasn't taken a life.

I'd argue you haven't got a clue what you are talking about and compensate by resorting to cliched moralizing. Everyone would snap given sufficient provocation, a 'cheating spouse' is very provocative, to call it "poor impulse control" is, at best, sanctimonious.

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

#108

Post by gknoy »

Zimahl wrote: post #21
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'll agree with the first regular job. He's been socially isolated for 18 years and probably has very little ability to function in the real world. A job at Pizza Hut or Starbucks will put some money in his pocket, get him self-sufficient, and interacting with people. He'll be able to rent an apartment and then he can spend time coding and learning in his off hours. While he's doing that he's going to have to hit the…

> he's going to have to ... find someone willing to take a chance on him. He needs to build a resume. Contracting might be a good way to start.

These are very good points. The conceptual difference between a contractor and an employee may make it a lot easier to find rewarding work for someone that would "fail" most companies' background checks.

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

#109

Post by pavel_lishin »

epo wrote: post #107
pavel_lishin wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For that specific offense, sure - who's gonna marry him? I would argue that someone who murdered his wife because she cheated on him probably has poor impulse control. All other things being equal, I'd give the job to the person who hasn't taken a life.

I'd argue you haven't got a clue what you are talking about and compensate by resorting to cliched moralizing. Everyone would snap given sufficient provocation, a 'cheating spouse' is very provocative, to call it "poor impulse control" is, at best, sanctimonious.

If by "cliched moralizing" you mean arguing that murdering a spouse is, in fact, immoral, then sure. I'm a cliched idiot.

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

#110

Post by gknoy »

pc86 wrote: post #50
syedkarim wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Involving a firearm in the commission of a crime is an instant ticket on the Felony Express. If he hadn't had a gun (first offense or not, discharged or not, loaded or not, real or not) he likely would have been out a long time ago. When you have a gun in that situation the number of things that can go wrong increases by an order of magnitude. The adrenaline could make him pull the trigger when he didn't really mean…

> I'm glad he's turned his life around but we can't have people committing armed robbery and going back out onto the street in three months.

I think this is a straw man. Most of us agree that armed robbery is a crime that deserves some punishment. However, if 18 years was his sentence, I want his sentence to be 18 years, not a subsequent lifetime of being unable to contribute meaningfully to society. He's not out in three months, he's spent half of my life in prison.

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