From prison to pardon: How President Trump gave me back my life

Leaving situation aft astir 20 years felt similar waking from a nightmare. I had been sentenced to beingness for a first-time, nonviolent cause offense. My 2 brothers were locked distant too, and portion we served retired our terms, some of our parents passed away. That nonaccomplishment wounded much than the condemnation ever could. 

We weren’t determination to enactment them successful their last days. We couldn't comfortableness them, oregon each other. We couldn't accidental goodbye. And knowing that erstwhile it mattered most, we were locked down bars … it crushed us. 

So, erstwhile I yet came location — acknowledgment to President Donald Trump granting maine clemency from what would person been an unimaginably harsh beingness condemnation — each I wanted was to basal with my brothers, the lone household I had left, and scatter our parents’ ashes together. It wasn’t conscionable astir honoring them. It was astir closing 1 of the astir achy chapters of our lives. It was astir being a household again. 

But adjacent aft our release, we couldn't grieve together.  

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Here's the problem. We were placed connected national supervised release. That meant we needed support to spot each other, adjacent though our cases were nonviolent, and we had nary further violations. The authorities denied america the accidental to mourn our parents successful the mode families should. 

(L. to R.) Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, Charles Tanner Jr. (Duke’s son), President Donald Trump, Charles ‘Duke’ Tanner, and legendary assemblage shot manager Lou Holtz. (Courtesy of Charles 'Duke' Tanner)

That infinitesimal opened my eyes to however breached supervised merchandise is. It wasn’t meant to beryllium this way. The strategy is expected to assistance radical rebuild their lives, find work, reconnect with household safely reenter nine with enactment and enactment crime-free (as my brothers and I did). Instead, successful galore cases, it becomes different punitive sentence. It hinders rehabilitation alternatively than supports it.

But there's hope. Members of Congress introduced the Safer Supervision Act, a measure designed to hole what's broken. Because a strategy that wouldn't let maine and my brothers to mourn our parents unneurotic is not a strategy that advances information oregon rehabilitation. 

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Supervised merchandise often feels similar a trap. The rules are truthful strict and unforgiving that adjacent radical doing the close things are perpetually nether menace of being thrown disconnected track, contempt years of progress. Travel bans crossed authorities oregon region lines without permission. Required predominant meetings with probation officers, ignoring enactment oregon household commitments. A broad prohibition connected being with anyone other who has a transgression record, adjacent your ain brothers.   

I defy you to find however immoderate of that keeps nine safer oregon helps idiosyncratic rebuild. It prolongs punishment, undercuts redemption and blocks genuine 2nd chances. Meanwhile, it distracts instrumentality enforcement from focusing connected radical who are genuinely dangerous. That doesn’t marque sense.   

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It doesn’t person to beryllium this way. If the Safer Supervision Act becomes law, it restores fairness and balance. It volition let radical who conscionable strict information criteria to gain their mode disconnected supervision, truthful authorities tin absorption connected the existent threats, arsenic they should.

Former boxer Charles ‘Duke’ Tanner and his lad Charles Tanner Jr. (Courtesy of Charles 'Duke' Tanner)

Trump, though known for being pugnacious connected crime, besides understood this: that radical who've paid their indebtedness merit a changeable astatine rebuilding. That’s wherefore I’m profoundly grateful to him. His determination didn’t conscionable springiness maine backmost my freedom; it gave maine backmost my hope. 

He brought maine location to my son, my family, my brothers and my community. He saw the humanity successful idiosyncratic the strategy had excessively often ignored. I basal with the president successful supporting others similar me, and our families volition retrieve his enactment of compassion for decades.    

If we physique connected his illustration and walk the Safer Supervision Act, we tin marque definite that our national supervision strategy genuinely supports 2nd chances.  

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I stock my communicative not retired of bitterness, but successful gratitude for a president who believes successful redemption, and for the accidental to talk arsenic a escaped man. 

My household inactive carries the value of the years we lost. But we besides transportation anticipation — anticipation that America tin larn from stories similar excavation and guarantee nary different household endures what excavation did.