I’m not wired to give in to excuses

Earlier in the year I accepted an offer to be a re-entry mentor. Apparently someone thought that I was a good candidate. I honestly didn’t know what it entailed and even after it was explained to me, I didn’t think that I was qualified for the position. The mission/vision of the re-entry program is to inspire success by transforming one life at a time. I’m basically responsible to help guys along their change process and help make them better prepared, and be productive citizens, when released back into society. I’m also a LWOP Mentor, and our mission is to serve community (in and out of prison), reduce recidivism, and prevent future crimes. As you can see it goes hand in hand, and if I’m living up to the mission like I say I am, then I am qualified, and I can’t use the excuse of not being qualified, so I had no choice but to accept the offer. Still, I had doubts, because I’ve never done anything like this before.

My doubt stems from my own experiences, and personal journey. I’ve been incarcerated over 25 years, on death row for 18 years, and I’ve only been in general population for 4 years. I have no experience as to what it feels like to have a release date, and I’m mentoring guys that has 6 months or less on their sentence. Who am I to tell someone how to be a productive citizen? Why should be interesting in anything I have to say? I can go on and on with all the excuses I tried to convince myself as to why I shouldn’t accept the offer. Thankfully, I’m not wired to give into excuses, and I do like a good challenge. Of course, it hasn’t been easy, and you do have people that’s not ready for change. Everyone has to make that decision on their own. You can only do so much, but if the person isn’t ready for change, it’s not going to happen. I’ve met guys that’s been to prison 4,5,6, and more, times and they refuse to try something different. Something as simple as putting together a release plan, or sign up for the benefits that they qualify for. Those are the cases that reassures me as to how important this is.

There’s definitely some good moments, like guys sending word back to us to say that they’re working, or reunited with family. A few guys has started businesses and is doing very well. There’s also the sad cases of guys getting rearrested, or guys that have relapsed and not doing good. Those are the ones that hurt, and can challenges my commitment to this. The reality is that you can’t reach every single person, but it won’t stop me from trying. Even though I had doubts going in, I feel like I’ve finally found my footing in general population.

As a mentor, I also have to put together my own release plan. I do hope to be free again one day, and have a good idea of what I’ll do if given an opportunity, but I’ve never put together an actual release plan. Now I’m obligated to do everything I can to make sure that my release plan is realistic, and solid. I have to prepare like I’m going home tomorrow. It’s also a lead by example strategy. I’m showing these guys that there’s no reason they don’t have a plan for when they get out, when I have a plan myself, but with no idea when I’m getting out. I’m sure that my plan will be a constant work in progress. With that being said, it’s definitely been a challenge, and a learning experience, but I have no regrets accepting the offer to be a re-entry mentor.

One love

David

PS. This will be story for another day, but the re-entry program shares a dorm with the dog program and that’s been an experience as well.

Still fighting a death sentence

If you’ve been keeping up with the blog, you’ll know that I was initially sentenced to death, but due to an unconstitutional issue in my case, and a judge that went against a jury’s recommendation, my sentence was overturned to life in 2022, life without parole. (The resentencing hearing was stressful, because the jury unanimously recommended for me to be sentenced to death again, but the judge decided to go against the jury’s recommendation and sentenced me to life, LWOP.)

I’m still fighting, and actively trying to get my life sentence overturned as well. I haven’t exhausted my appeals, and currently waiting on a ruling from the court for the latest petition that was filed in my appeal process.

Even though I left death row years ago, I’m still fighting a death sentence. In the state of Florida, there’s no path to freedom when you’re sentenced to life without parole unless you get relief from the courts, and we all know the odds on that happening. LWOP, in theory, is a death sentence. The only difference is, with a death sentence you know the exact day, and time, that your life will come to an end.

Not that my priorities have changed since leaving death row, because I still very much want to see capital punishment abolished in my lifetime, which I truly believe will happen, but now that I’m living it, I’ve also added seeing LWOP sentences abolished in my lifetime as well.

With that being said, I don’t want to sit around and hope that something changes as the years steadily fly by. Instead, I want to be proactive and be a part of the movement, and hopefully be able to make some changes. I’m very aware of how challenging it is taking on such an ambitious endeavor under my current circumstances. I’ve never been one to let things, including prison walls, stop me from doing what I set out to do, and getting involved in this movement is no different. I’m not even sure where to begin, or what that process will look like, but I have to do something other than talking about how things need to change.

Most important, I’ll need to build up a network of relationships, and resources, in order to get any traction on something of this magnitude. This is my plea for advice, guidance, or ideas on how I can go about this. I’m open to all suggestions. I want to connect with individuals, or organizations, that are passionate and active in this movement. I’ll need all the help I can get to make this possible. (If you know of anyone, or of an organization, that’s passionate about this movement, please send me their contact information, or have them reach out to me directly through the Securus app.)

In the meantime, along with trying to get my sentence and conviction, overturned, I’ve been trying to stay as productive as possible through programs offered here at this prison, and correspondence courses. I’ve been focused on self improvement since my years on the row, and that won’t change, because I believe that there’s always room for improvement. I want to be as prepared as possible if the opportunity of freedom ever presents itself. I’m limited and a lot of things are beyond my control, but self betterment is something I can control, and that’s something no court, law, or individual can deny me of. For me, having a life sentence isn’t a reason to give up, or get discouraged. If anything, it’s a reason to want to be, and to do, better. To show that I’m much more than my worse decisions, even if I’m having to do that from a prison cell.

Thank you always for taking the time to read my entries, and like I said, if you can help me build that bridge to like minded people, your help will be greatly appreciated.

One love

David

Editors note: you can also contact me with any recommendations for people or organisations for D to get involved with – karenchandler123@aol.com

Life without parole – making a difference

I just joined a group called LWOP Mentors (life without parole mentors) program. It’ll be an alternative to all the programs that are based towards the life with parole programs. There are currently no programs for LWOP inmates. It’ll be the first of its kind, so I’ll be one of the initial members. It’s basically to show the important people that when they change the laws and decide to give guys like us another opportunity at freedom that we can show that we’ve been preparing, and we can show evidence of how we’ve been preparing. Like I said, it’ll be the first of its kind, and I finally feel like I found some like-minded people to associate myself with. I really have a good feeling about it, because it already has the eyes of some important people. I’ll be receptive to whatever advice you may have, because I know how passionate you are about this. Also, I’ll be sure to keep you posted on how it’s coming along.

We had to write like an introduction statement, basically a part of the process to show that we’re committed and why we want to be a part of the group/movement, so I’ll submit a bit of my statement on to you as my entry for next month. Here it is: (You may need to mention that it’s a new group, LWOP mentors, so that the readers aren’t too lost.)

I’ve been incarcerated since the age of 20 (Dec. 2000). At the age of 24, I was sentenced to death, and then resentenced to LWOP at the age of 42 (June 2022). As one may assume, the transition to general population wasn’t easy after all those years of solitary confinement. On death row, you’re surrounded by like-minded people, so there was unity because most were striving towards a common goal, staying alive. In general population, it’s more like an everybody for themselves mentality, which is somewhat understandable, because the mindset of someone going home in a couple months is different from the mindset of someone with a couple life sentences. I struggled to find like-minded people, something that I realized that I was spoiled to have the past 18 years before the move to general population. It was also a struggle to see people that have given up and accepted their LWOP sentences. That’s why there was no hesitation on my part when I was approached with the idea of putting together something for guys with LWOP.

I’ve also been passionate about mentoring, so I’ll always try to make that a part of anything that I get involved in. I’ve been through more than enough, and know that my experiences can be used to influence others in a positive way. If I can stop someone from taking the path I took, because I know exactly where that path leads to, then that’s a start. I know the importance of mentorship and how much of a difference the right guidance can make. Sometimes it’s about showing a person different options. It hurts every time I come across talented, and young men with so much potential sitting in prison.

When you’re in a position like I’m in, you’re often asked what you’re doing with your time, how you’ve changed since then, or why you deserve another chance at freedom. Of course, I’m not the same person I was at the age of 20, but I’m sure that we all can say that. I’m sincere when I say that I’m better now from my experience, but I do know that I’ll have to do more than say it. That’s another reason I’m going to be a part of this group, because they’re going to hold every member accountable. It’s about having people not only look at you as a case number, or a jail number.

With that being said, I’m excited to be a part of a movement, and to finally be amongst some like-minded people. The journey has just begun, but one day I want us to look back and be proud of being a part of the initial group that opened the gates for ourselves and many more behind us.

One love

David