by Jesse Janto
Early release for positive programming in prison, probably not! In November of 2016, Governor Jerry Brown proposed and designed a bill to reduce prison population. This would give early release to people who did everything right and followed all the rules in prison. The promise of Proposition 57 is mostly or entirely misleading. Prop. 57 proposed that it would reward eligible inmates for good behavior and positive rehabilitation, but has turned out to be just another money racket for the CDCR.
The people of California passed the Prop. 57 bill with the best intentions behind it. I, Jesse Janto, am one of the individuals affected by this bill, or so I thought. During the last 4½ years of my incarceration, I have made it a clear point to follow all the rules and to better my life for me and my children. When I was in the process of this, it was like a light was shown at the end of a dark tunnel. I saw hope with a new deal about positive programming. It was a six-month process that started in July 2016. I was sent a letter stating that I was done with my base term imposed by the state and that I was being referred to the Board of Parole for possible early release. My heart stopped and I choked up; it was finally my chance at luck. I thought for sure right then that I was a perfect candidate, since I have never had a write-up and have been doing so much to better 
myself before this and currently.
I scrambled with the utmost urgency to give myself every advantage. I got reference letters from every positive person that was currently in my life outside these walls. From social workers to nurses, business owners, and my family. I submitted all this information to the Board of Parole. As I was out on the fire line saving California from burning down from all the wildland vegetation fires, flames burning hot against my skin, working past the point of exhaustion, sleeping only a couple hours in the dirt, covered in ash, only to wake to do it again; all I could think about was going back home to be with my sons and being a dad again. To feel them in my arms and know in my mind that I was finally going to be in their lives, which is everything I dream of. After being out for 21 days at a time, my family being the only reason I had to push on, I was so anxious to get something back from them telling me I was going home. At week six I finally came back to a letter. It was not what I thought would be the outcome—it was a letter of denial. I was completely shocked, hurt, and blown away. A feeling of anger and desperation came over me. I must have broken out into a cold sweat, a sudden sickness, uneasiness, brought me to my rack. Everything the bill said was absolutely false. The reason they denied me was because of my past and current offenses. That was not supposed to be accounted for in this bill. It was only supposed to be for positive programming while in the institution. But they are still bringing up the past, which is not right.
Most of us want to change and are showing great effort and interest in doing so; working hard labor as firefighters, but our pasts are still being held over our heads. I personally was affected, and my children will not have their father home as they were expecting to. They are not taking into account that what they are doing hurts our families just as much if not more than they are hurting us. By giving them hope that they will soon be with their Moms and Dads only to be turned down because of our past, for which we have already paid our debt to society. I am highly upset at the fact the state has left the whole bill in the hands of the CDCR. I personally think it was the wrong thing to do. It gave them the right to have more control over when and whom they want to release. All they want to do is keep the federal people from taking control and automatically releasing the eligible if the population ever gets close to being 137.5%, which it was only 1,500 inmates shy during election time. So now the CDCR has control of the floodgate of inmate population. They don’t actually care who you are or what you are doing positively in this place. It’s all about the money!
Republished from “Perspectives from the Cell Block: An Anthology of Prisoner Writings” – edited by Joan Parkin in collaboration with incarcerated people from Mule Creek State Prison.
