First Time Offenders of all kinds receive punishments that they can never recover from. I was 19 when I committed my crime and now, I am 36 the only reason I haven't been released is because of the reason I committed it. With no other justification, I will most likely spend more time in prison than I was alive when I committed my first crime at a time where experts have deemed me irresponsible. I was TOO YOUNG to buy alcohol. I was educated prior to prison, and I was raised by good people. Once I realized how monumental my bad choices were, it was too late to change them. Now I have a positive voice and a plan to reach anybody like me, without the freedom to actually do so. With cases like mine, nothing I do will redeem me for what I did. No amount of good will replace the life that I've taken. Which is why the desire to do SOME good is so sincere. People like me aren't seeking redemption or absolution, just purpose. Continued confinement's only purpose is to punish. It helps no one. Not even the victim's family. If I died in here or got released tomorrow, their loved one is still gone. If I save one person from making the choices I did, that changes the world. I have a release date already. The question is will I be released when I can still reach the goals I've set or just with enough time to try to enjoy what time I have left to live. I think that is a tragedy.

This will impact a lot of communities because there is a part of the prison community that just got caught up in their immaturity and desire to fit in. Once they served 5 to 7 years, they became aware of their positive side with goals of being model citizens and changing the bad opportunities they've faced for others. Many of the youth today miss the most effective messages because some people who CAN reach them rarely get the opportunity before they become too old to focus on anything other than survival in a strange new world, they've been removed from for twenty years. We see the stories every day of the drug dealer who is done with crime because they gave back a life sentence they didn't deserve, but what about the kid who made a bad decision? The one who didn't see the world clearly because they didn't receive a message that made sense to their understanding. Those people that just messed up. They deserve a second chance too. Whether u are a law-abiding citizen or lifetime criminal, examples should be made to individuals. Individuals should not be made into examples for the world. Science has proven that long term confinement provides less of a deterrent than hope.