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Other essays on this theme
Essay: "Second Chance"by Andrew Belei Like anything in life, the meaning and value of the second chance depends on its price. You make a mistake--bad career choice, hasty marriage, hard drugs, crime--and if you get away with life's slap on the wrist, you better hope for the third chance, because the second one is wasted on you. Still, I believe that everyone deserves the second chance, just in case one has not learned the lesson. I'm not so sure about a third chance. Since the general subject here is crime and punishment, prisons and prisoners, I'll voice an opinion on the issue that a lot of California prisoners take very close to heart. It's not a popular opinion: people here get incensed when I tell them what I think.
California's Three Strikes law mandates life sentences for third time felons, no matter how minor the third felony. It gets horribly ridiculous sometimes: there's the widely publicized case of 25 years to life for stealing a slice of pizza; I personally know men serving the same sentences for possession of a single shot of dope or literally for running a red light. Yes, it's not the sort of justice befitting a civilized country, but why not take a break from complaining about it and take a closer look at yourself? You committed a serious crime twice, did some time for it and then, knowing about this draconian law, went out and broke the law again. Can you really blame anyone but yourself? You made the choice not to play nice; you threw away your second chance--any wonder the society thinks you will do it again and again unless you live out your life in prison? Sure, the prison system doesn't help you learn to live out there: in a place like this prison, you spend nine months a year locked in the cell. It's not like there is much to do when the program is "normal" for the other three months. Sure, they are closing down vocational classes and AA/NA to accommodate the guards' salary raise. No one said it was going to be easy, but is it really the state's responsibility to teach you to live? You are a man; you learn your own lessons; you have to accept the consequences of your own actions. You had your second chance. You blew it. If it were up to me, there would be no life terms for first offenses, no matter how grave. Give a man a chance to prove that he has learned the lesson. I look around and I see some pretty impressive artists, writers, engineers, athletes who will die in prison. It's the country's loss: it could have gained from the contributions of those it destroyed, lusting for vengeance. How far have we gone from the humanist ideals of early America! All too often the value of human life is measured only in terms of income to the penal system. What is humanism and enlightenment if not second chances? Think about it, all of you who had a chance to correct a mistake in life. Imagine that you weren't given that chance. Whether or not I deserve the second chance is a whole different kettle of fish. I'm not going to die in prison for stealing food. I killed. Vengeance is yours. |