Rehabilitation

Here’s to the crazy ones.


The misfits.

The rebels.

The troublemakers.

The round pegs in square holes.

The ones who see things differently.

They are not fond of rules.

And they have no respect for the status quo.

You can praise them, disagree with them, quote them, disbelieve them, glorify or vilify them.

About the only thing you can’t do is ignore them.

Because they change things.

They invent. They imagine. They heal.

They explore. They create. They inspire.

They push the human race forward.

Maybe they have to be crazy.

How else can you stare at an empty canvas and see a work of art?

Or sit in silence and hear a song that’s never been written?

Or gaze at a red planet and see a laboratory on wheels?

We make tools for these kinds of people.

While some see them as crazy ones, we see genius.

Because the people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world, are the ones who do.

-Written for the Apple's Think Different campaign

I think that this "Think Different" ad campaign serves to adequately describe my feelings about law school and why I even selected law as a career to begin with. My objective is to get society to "think differently" about the way we view ex felons and their re entry into society. I know many of you are wondering "Why in the hell is she in law school?" Or the million dollar question for the "sharper knives" is "How in the hell did she get into law school?" Well, "Inquiring minds would like to know." LOL. Outside of all the inquiring minds what lies at the heart of my thoughts are that I imagine the political status specifically relating to occupational licensees will endure for decades for the following reason: Our society lacks a mechanism to ascertain actual reform in offenders.  This mechanism would be similar to discerning what is in a persons mind-the last refuge of privacy.  To this day I do not understand why I committed my crime; when asked at various court hearings to say something in my behalf for their consideration, I said "I can not find any reason for your votes." Why? Because my time spent in prison seemed trivial to the offense- and to have some answer would have been like making sense out of non sense....   There were times when asked the same question, the rebel inside me just wanted to grab the seat of my pants and shout out like a bonafide gang banger "I guess because I refuse to die.  So for me its prolly gonna be thug life even though that's not what I want. Also I wanna send a shot out to all the convicts...stay up and lastly let the haters hate their just wasting their time." Or should have said something like "I served my time and don't owe the interest society has demanded. My kids couldn't afford to pay it either!"

So what does it take to prove good character? Well I am convinced that this would require knowing the minds of each state license board because having a good philosophy on life isn't good enough. 

To date this is the social rule in place: Green v. Missouri Pacific Railroad, 523 F. 2d 1290 (8th Cir. 1975), appeal after remand, 549 F. 2d 1158 (8th Cir. 1977). Apparently society has a great need to eliminate risks for greater rewards.

The Eye of The Tiger

I really can appreciate and respect the sacrifice of hard work! Standing on the this side of graduation from the UCLA Paralegal program, I am most happy to say in short....."I did it!" I am glad that I challenged myself to go above and beyond the call of duty! If you are defeated in the mind, you'll be defeated every time! Real talk folks.  It's about time that attention is given to ex-felons. I think people in society talk from both sides of their mouth when they are talking about rehabilitation.  Especially about people who are going through great efforts to get on with their lives.  Society create fake barriers and double jeopardy clauses where there need not be any. 

Be aware of "do gooders" that talk from both sides of their mouth.  The Salvation Army was started to help convicted felons, but their missions have changed to help the homeless.  They have ignored us to a greater degree.  Apparently, they do not get paid for helping ex felons anymore. (Why I'm I not surprised?)  We are EX FELONS, meaning that our sins are in the past.  We are not FELONS any more. Most of our lives are about living it and trying to get on with it.  WORK IS A GREAT part of it.  I have committed to not being a part of the problem, but part of the solution.

But this has most definitely been an experience for me!

Justice Now CD Project Experience-www.jnow.org

In 2002 while I was incarcerated I was blessed with the unique opportunity to perform an original piece of poetry which when on to become published work by an organization called Justice Now (http://www.jnow.org/). The CD collection is entitled "The We That Set Us Free" polictical icons such as Angela Davis, Assata Shakur, and Climbing Poetry also appear as guest artist on this CD collection. I actually performed this piece standing in the visitation room at the Central California Women Facility. Enjoy and hopefully you will support our cause and order your personal copy today at: http://www.akpress.org/ or http://www.jnow.org/

Gladly Pay You Tuesday, For A Hamburger Today!

Voting Rights of Ex-Offenders under Review - Legislation & Policymaking - FindLaw Blotter

All of Us or None wrote letters to the 58 counties within California that oeprate jail facilities, asking what their policies were for implementaton and education regarding honoring an inmate's right to vote while in county jail. Many different reponses were received and found that many weren't aware that inmates serving time in county jail for felony sentences had the right to vote under California state law.

As a result, All of Us or None set up an meeting with the Secretary of State, presenting her with suggestions on how to go about getting the correct information to eligible inmates. In addition, the ACLU created a pamphlet with instructions on who is eligible to vote in the state of California and how to obtain an absentee ballot while in county jail.

On a FEDERAL LEVEL:

The House subcommittee has taken arguments on a new proposed bill that would require states to allow felons to vote in federal elections once they're released from prison. The bill is called the Democracy Restoration Act, and it is being sponsored by John Conyers who is a democrat representing the state of Michigan. Conyers is also Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. The findings of the bill note that "given current rates of incarceration, approximately one in three of the next generation of African-American men will be disenfranchised at some point their lifetime." The signing and passing of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, makes the last read sentence in this posting a sad fact and statistic. For reasons of both principle and sensible social policy, Congress should step in and give ex-offender the right to vote.

Anyway, the question for my "legal scholars and friends" is not who you or I think should be entitled to vote. That is not the system under which we live in. Our Constitution has the potential to delivery promise and guaranteed voting rights no matter what a person's opinion is or how well that opinion is founded. The next issue is of course, if it does not, does the Federal government have the power to enforce on the States its judgment on the matter? As my mother would say on this one, "Some things are an act of God, other things are an act of Congress." I guess this is the first step in exhausting all administrative remedies before we have to appeal to heaven.