Category: Feature of the Week

by Nephew  We give second chances in hopes that one would get it together. That piece of humanity within us seeks to pull it out of others. With tough love that shouts louder than for those whose team is losing, we yell:  “God, if you give me a second chance I promise I won’t do it no more!” And if not yelled, then whispered to yourself… For a second I ask that you imagine, using your imagination will take you there and beyond.  The youngest of eight boys, no father figure, so I mimicked everything that I found to be

by Matthew Feeney Restorative Justice is an age-old philosophy which is more recently being applied to the Criminal Justice System.  Based on traditions of the Original Peoples, Restorative Justice is the belief that harm was done, so healing must happen in order to restore things closer to where they were.  Restorative Justice also takes into account that there is always more than one person affected by a single crime.  Friends, families and people in the community are all affected and need to be involved in the healing process.  One of the amazing components of Restorative Justice involves a “Healing Circle.”

by Jazper Everyone has that one person they wish they could forgive, but they don’t know how to do it, so they never bring it up until it’s too late. For me, the was my Uncle Polo.  When I was younger, my uncle would buy my cousins candy or ice cream and buy me nothing just to make me upset. He would pick on me all the time when we were around each other — even when I was with my family or by myself. He would also call me names like sissy, snitch and cry baby. That made me feel like everyone was better than

by S Are we judged in life? I say we are, they look down on us for mistakes young people do. That’s not right in my way, nobody should in anyway. We’re still kids. Sometimes we forget about it because the system gives us time that makes us think we ain’t kids no more.   The only punishment we should get is by the ones who care for us and love us not the system. The system judges us, they could care less about us and have no hope in us. We give up on things. It’s no more happiest being judge it holds onto you. No one can see it, not even you. Sometimes deep down inside

by Robert Barnes The way we look at life, it should not matter that 95% of live in a fantasy world, surrounded by things we feel matter to us the most with vain attempts to replace our yesterdays and tomorrows with today, although today will forever be yesterday’s news, on the views, on the way we look at life. Scientifically speaking, I have the brain of Albert that comes with a kite. This is the way I look at life because in all honesty my perception becomes only what I perceive as the way things should be. The beat within me never just plays one tune.

by Bryant Harrison To reserve the theme, “Rehabilitation Versus Punitive Punishment, Accountability, and Forgiveness”, for myself conveys my efforts and desire to change my old ways of thinking and perspective.  During my twenty-five year journey here in prison, I have become more mindful and resort more to patient thinking before I act. To remain focused, I pray and give thanks to God, I redirect any distractions of anger, boredom, or negative thoughts into constructing positive endeavors.   As a writer, I take blank sheet of paper, then convert the emptiness into compassionate, heartfelt filled inspiration and encouragement. This craft brings about

by Gabriel Let me start off by saying that everyone (hopefully) wishes they could have handled something differently — whether it’s not getting into that one argument with a friend that escalated the situation, stealing and running away, getting in trouble with the police. Whatever your situation is or was, just know there are other ways you could have handled it. Once you figure out that way, life will be a lot easier.  Why give someone a second chance though, or many chances?  It is like getting fired from a job, because when you apply for another job and you have

by Alexander  I think that at least seventy-five percent of the world’s population has either been given a second chance or has given a second chance. I know that it is hard to forgive someone or to be forgiven. I think it is a good idea to give people second chances even if you think they don’t deserve it. It is possible to give multiple chances if you think that they can do better this time then they did last time. You don’t want to give anyone to many chances because then they will either run over you or take

by Shon Pernice Your walk through the justice system, whether as a juvenile or as an adult, is an opportunity for you to reflect: Why am I here? What did I do? Who did I hurt? People mess up; we fail. What matters is learning from your mistakes and repairing the bonds broken by destructive behavior. As a community and a country, our prison population is at an all time high. People returning to prison is astonishing considering how unpleasant prison atmosphere and living situations are. Incarceration should be a time for restoration of yourself and restitution.   When I first

by Michael Mackey Our failures in life come from not realizing our closeness to success when we give up, so keep setting goals. Because very often we become angry, anxious, or fearful when the things we want do not work to our favor. I know we sometimes box ourselves into time limits; limits are fine when we have everything we need “within arms reach”. Know that no matter where we are and what we want, we must always surrender the element of time to the divine timekeeper.   We judge whether they have worked hard enough to own that. We criticize them