Making a good first impression is something we've all tried to do at one time or another and doing it on paper is much harder then in person. If you've ever written a resume , or letter, text to someone you are interested in, trying to find just the right words can be a real nightmare. Now just imagen if the first impression your going to make was on paper written by someone else, and that person may or may not have your best interest at heart. This is the dilemma anyone involved with the justice system faces. If you get a ticket the officer writes a report that can and will be used in court if you were to challenge that ticket. This is true in every case from a simple ticket to all other crimes where involvement of a report is required. In the case of prisoners it comes in the form of a C-file. In this file there are things like police reports of the crime sentencing transcripts and all kinds of paperwork written by interviewers, counselors, correctional officers, and free staff. If everyone writing things for this file had integrity it would be full of truths and there would be no issues. People reading it would be able to make first impression judgment's about you that were based of facts, sadly that is not the case. There are those who have an "agenda", or just a bad day who decide to write things that are not factually true or is an out right lie and by the time you find out about it its placed in your file and considered fact. You could have never drank or used drugs in your life, never had a physical altercation (fight) or not be a violent person, then just because someone decided to write that you were one of these things true or not, because it is written in your file its considered fact and you can't change it. yes you can fight it but it dose not get removed. If your lucky you might get a new paper saying the you deny ever saying this but then it's you word against there's. When you parole this file is sent to the parole officer who gets to read all the stuff written about you true or not and they form an opinion of you based on this information, and place parole conditions according to what they have read, and all of a sudden your a drunken drug user with a violent history.
this is but a few of the things I personally know that has happened to others, my file was 6 inches thick by the time I was paroled after 33 years of incarseration and I can only imagen the things that were said about me over the years. It over complicates the prosses of trying to get your life back together for those trying to do the right thing and at time's seem to feel like they want you to fail. To be told you have to quit a job with no explanation, or you can't live in a place you've been living at and have to move when it was to only place you could afford all adds up to needless frustration because of the things that were written about you. Sometimes the things are true and the scrutiny is needed, but the fact remains that "paper Impression" dose not always fit the person, it's just one more thing that has to be dealt with in order to make it back to being a free citizen. Pray for those returning from prison that they make the transition and break the chains. Till next time X-OFFENDER
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June 2024
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