This week I went to my internship three times (Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday). Each day became more eventful that I guess I forgot what happened for the majority of the first two days...
Don't worry though, what I can remember is quite scandalous. In fact, the reason I came in on an extra day was because there was an important parole hearing where an attorney from the County Attorney's office would be there to support the victim's side.
Tuesday (3/28/2017)
On this day, I only fully remember one parole hearing that took place. This was a hearing for one of two brothers who at the the age of 19, beat, raped, and killed a women at a bar. These two brothers slit the young woman's neck all the way through to the spine after raping and beating her multiple times. I believe the brother received a harsher sentence of either life without a chance of parole or the death penalty. The inmate tried to convey to the board that he had changed and found God, and so on, however, while in prison he had countless amounts of infractions, major and minor, along with being in the Old Mexican Mafia. Clearly this type of behavior would leave anyone a bit unsettled to let him out of prison. To further assure that he not be released, a victim advocate spoke on behalf of the victim's mother by relaying to the board the telephonic conversation she had with the mother. I guess one of the board members did not agree with that kind of delivery and started focusing and talking about that to the advocate instead of the actual case. (personally, it didn't really seem like the right time to discuss that, but moving on..) Next, the attorney spoke and took the case home; the inmate was denied parole..
On an unrelated note, I have noticed that the board tends to use the inmate's history prior to the current conviction as some sort of depiction of their current state instead of mainly focusing on what an inmate does while in prison. I have also noticed that the board rarely takes into account circumstances and situations in which people are placed in... Where does nurture v. nature come into play? I don't know these are just a few speculations...
Wednesday (3/29/2017)
It was all such a blur...
Thursday (3/30/2017)
What an intense day to say the least... It started off with a parole hearing for a man who was already on home arrest. He appeared to be doing great on home arrest but the board thought that six months was too little time to determine whether he should be put on general parole or not.
After that hearing, a complete discharge hearing was supposed to take place, however, it was found out that the man had committed a crime while on parole and never told his parole officer and fully completed the probation for the new charge under a different name. Because of that, he got arrested (i witnessed it!) outside the court room.
Once all of that was settled and lunch had taken place, there was another total discharge hearing that would take place. This man was released on parole and was seeking complete discharge from the state so he could "travel" for work. (he was a subway employee, you should be able to see the irony soon). He was convicted for several rapes in the early '70s in which he would wear women's panties and aggressively rape young girls. As of recently, he had many violations for being in contact with young children and for having sexual conversations on the internet (sexting himself cross-dressed) while on parole. This was definitely alarming since it was a similar pattern to his original crime(s) which only shows that he needs someone watching him (at least in terms of parole). It was kind of funny that his subway boss was there to advocate for him because he ended up making himself not look so good as it came up that he allowed this man to be a general manager to employees as young as 16... creepy...
What really had me unsettled was seeing one of his victims there having to relive her horrid experience from when she was just 14 years old, only to further show the board that this man is too perverted to be completely discharged... That woman's strength is inspiring; I do not know if I could be in the same room as my rapist like she was forced to do...
Thank you all for reading, and don't forget to let me know your thoughts!
Frida
Hi Frida! What an intense week! Can you elaborate more on the nature v nurture debate's role in these cases?
ReplyDeleteHi Frida! This project has been coming along amazingly! Has it been hard for you to handle these different cases?
ReplyDeleteHey Frida! Sound like an intense week! What are your thoughts on the court relying more heavily on past actions rather than those of the inmates while in prison? Do you think that the court doing so is fair?
ReplyDeleteHi Frida! Wow, you have had a pretty intense week, especially the perveted rapist in the complete discharge hearing. My only question for you is how did the cross-dressing psycho argue his case that he was ready to be complete discharged?
ReplyDeleteHey Frida! Those three days must've been pretty intense. These cases are very horrifying, especially for the girl who had to relive the whole experience. What was his bosses defense for the the pantie guy?
ReplyDeleteFrida.....this was wild. Do you think that the people trying to gain parole should be judged based on their past crimes or their actions in prison more? I cannot begin to explain my astonishment of that young girl's strength; that must have been so intense.
ReplyDeleteHi Frida! This week sounded like a crazy time. I can't believe people commit such crimes and attempt to get parole. The nature vs nurture claim was specifically interesting. What's your take on that? See you next week.
ReplyDeleteHi Frida! I really cannot believe how far you have come with your blog. I enjoyed this weeks post. This cases are interesting and disturbing at the same time. Cant wait for your next post!
ReplyDeleteWow, what an eventful week. Do you think that being exposed to all of these horrific crimes has increased your trust in the justice system or made you fear for those who are not properly put to justice? Hopefully you'll have a more postitive week next time😂
ReplyDeleteWow Frida. I am amazed at the experiences your site has exposed you to because I think they are incredibly valuable to this project and dare I say your future career? Anyway good luck and I look forward to your post next week.
ReplyDeleteHi Frida! It certainly sounds like you had an interesting week. You brought up a lot of good points in your blog. Can't wait to hear more.
ReplyDeleteHi Frida! The cases that you got to sit in on this week seem a lot more brutal than the one's you've mentioned in the past. It's really interesting how you comment on the committee's actions and what seems to sway them. I look forward to next week!
ReplyDeleteP.S. I really like the gifs in this week's blog post.