Tuesday, June 08, 2004
Jessie
Reason #2,039 that I love my job: This morning I get a call from my fellow cops reporter, Josh. He was walking downtown when he bumped into a guy who had just got out of Angola (where the really bad dudes go away in Louisiana. Something like 80 percent are in on life sentences) and had no idea how to find his parole officer. Josh wanted to help the guy out but, understandably, didn't feel entirely comfortable driving alone with a stranger who just got out of Angola.
So I went to meet Josh and his new buddy, Jessie. Turns out Jessie had been in Angola for 12 years. He's from Alexandria, which is about two hours north of Baton Rouge and has no ties to Baton Rouge. He doesn't really have any family to speak of in Louisiana and the state decided that Jessie would be OK if they dropped him off in a strange city with a $10 check, the clothes on his back and a manila envelope with shelter addresses and assorted personal information. Asked why he was placed in Baton Rouge, Jessie had no idea other than that the prison decided to put him there.
The immediate problem Jessie faced was that he was released this morning and had to meet with his parole officer by 2 p.m. tomorrow about 10 miles away from the bus station where he was dropped off. Jessie had neither transportation nor any idea where his parole officer's address was. It was pure luck that he asked a cops reporter for help. If he doesn't get in touch with the parole officer by 2 p.m. the Department of Corrections will issue a warrant for his arrest and he will likely be all kinds of fucked.
So we took Jessie to a shelter close by and there we sat down with Carl, a massive, built, bearded black man with a couple of crude tats on his arm and a big gold cross hanging off of his neck. Carl did 20 years in Angola but, since he got out 10 years ago, he has been helping prisoners get started after release (a job apparently not made easier by a prison that just completed work on a new golf course for employees).
Jessie is soft spoken, friendly and was very appreciative that we helped him out. He's been far from a model citizen, however. You don't go to Angola for 12 years for stealing candy and he went for aggravated sexual battery and attempted murder. So Jessie's got more problems than most parolees: he's a felon and a registered sex offender. It's hard to feel sorry for a guy with that record, and I really have little sympathy for sex offenders, but it's also hard to justify dumping a guy who's served his time into a foreign place with sparse instructions and no one to go to for help. It certainly doesn't make me feel very safe that a guy whose just served 12 years and has to write "felon" on every job application is not given more assistance to avoid being a threat to the public again.
I hope we helped Jessie out a bit and I'm going to do my best to keep up with him and see if he makes it, although he has more than a few obstacles.
So I went to meet Josh and his new buddy, Jessie. Turns out Jessie had been in Angola for 12 years. He's from Alexandria, which is about two hours north of Baton Rouge and has no ties to Baton Rouge. He doesn't really have any family to speak of in Louisiana and the state decided that Jessie would be OK if they dropped him off in a strange city with a $10 check, the clothes on his back and a manila envelope with shelter addresses and assorted personal information. Asked why he was placed in Baton Rouge, Jessie had no idea other than that the prison decided to put him there.
The immediate problem Jessie faced was that he was released this morning and had to meet with his parole officer by 2 p.m. tomorrow about 10 miles away from the bus station where he was dropped off. Jessie had neither transportation nor any idea where his parole officer's address was. It was pure luck that he asked a cops reporter for help. If he doesn't get in touch with the parole officer by 2 p.m. the Department of Corrections will issue a warrant for his arrest and he will likely be all kinds of fucked.
So we took Jessie to a shelter close by and there we sat down with Carl, a massive, built, bearded black man with a couple of crude tats on his arm and a big gold cross hanging off of his neck. Carl did 20 years in Angola but, since he got out 10 years ago, he has been helping prisoners get started after release (a job apparently not made easier by a prison that just completed work on a new golf course for employees).
Jessie is soft spoken, friendly and was very appreciative that we helped him out. He's been far from a model citizen, however. You don't go to Angola for 12 years for stealing candy and he went for aggravated sexual battery and attempted murder. So Jessie's got more problems than most parolees: he's a felon and a registered sex offender. It's hard to feel sorry for a guy with that record, and I really have little sympathy for sex offenders, but it's also hard to justify dumping a guy who's served his time into a foreign place with sparse instructions and no one to go to for help. It certainly doesn't make me feel very safe that a guy whose just served 12 years and has to write "felon" on every job application is not given more assistance to avoid being a threat to the public again.
I hope we helped Jessie out a bit and I'm going to do my best to keep up with him and see if he makes it, although he has more than a few obstacles.
