We place together a Parole Memorandum ( Packet ) that will give your loved one a better chance a parole and early release. Yet, the question is, what is in this packet on a base level?
The Parts of a Parole Packet Like any file, your parole packet is split into sections that contain specific documents. The overall file should have a logical sequence that takes the parole board through your offense, what you did while incarcerated to improve your life, and how you expect to live on the outside.
Introductory LetterYour first document is an introductory letter that asks the Parole Board for parole. Include your date of birth, age, height, weight, and hair color. Also, provide details about the reason for your incarceration with dates, felony levels, and the maximum discharge date, among other things.
Tell the board how much time you have already served and provide statistics about offenders with the same offense as yours for comparison.
Parole Plan Your parole plan outlines your expectations for living once released from prison. Include the following information: The name, address, and phone number of the person you are planning to parole to, such as a parent or someone else you will stay with while getting your life back together. Names, addresses, and phone numbers of people offering you employment, so the Parole Board knows you have a job when you leave that will reduce the chances of re-offending. A description of your expected living and work situation. Confirmation that you have transportation when you leave prison. The Parole Board will feel more confident knowing that you have people who can help you get back on track.
Criminal History It isn’t a comfortable subject. After all, the parole board already knows your history. But it would help if you touched on the details. Be sure to express remorse if someone was hurt when you committed the offense. Repeat your remorse even if it’s in your introductory letter.
You may wish to address all your convictions even though any juvenile records are sealed, and non-convictions are not part of the reason for your incarceration.
Disciplinary History If you faced any major disciplinary action, speak to the cases by admitting fault and expressing thoughtful remorse. Include the fact that you accepted the punishment as just and that you served without complaint. If you have significant periods without discipline, highlight them as well.
Educational History If you earned any degree, certificate, or other recognition for learning, include it. Refer to your educational attainment before coming to prison, and then refer to any in-prison education. Include a few lines about every degree or certificate earned. If you complete a vocational course, describe it, when you were in it, and some details even if you didn’t finish it.
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We Are Your Voice
As prison populations surged nationwide in the 1990s and conditions began to deteriorate, lawmakers made it harder for incarcerated people to file and win civil rights lawsuits in federal court and largely eliminated court oversight of prisons and jails.
Today, prisons and jails in America are in crisis. Incarcerated people are beaten, stabbed, raped, and killed in facilities run by corrupt officials who abuse their power with impunity. People who need medical care, help managing their disabilities, mental health and addiction treatment, and suicide prevention are denied care, ignored, punished, and placed in solitary confinement. And despite growing bipartisan support for criminal justice reform, the private prison industry continues to block meaningful proposals.
More than half of all Americans in prison or jail have a mental illness.4 Prison officials often fail to provide appropriate treatment for people whose behavior is difficult to manage, instead resorting to physical force and solitary confinement, which can aggravate mental health problems.
More than 60,000 people in the U.S. are held in solitary confinement.5 They’re isolated in small cells for 23 hours a day, allowed out only for showers, brief exercise, or medical visits, and denied calls or visits from family members. Studies show that people held in long-term solitary confinement suffer from anxiety, paranoia, perceptual disturbances, and deep depression. Nationwide, suicides among people held in isolation account for almost 50% of all prison suicides, even though less than 8% of the prison population is in isolation.
The Supreme Court signaled in 2011 that failing to provide adequate medical and mental health care to incarcerated people could result in drastic consequences for states. It found that California’s grossly inadequate medical and mental health care is “incompatible with the concept of human dignity and has no place in civilized society” and ordered the state to release up to 46,000 people from its “horrendous” prisons.
But states like Alabama continue to fall far below basic constitutional requirements. In 2017, a federal court found Alabama’s “horrendously inadequate” mental health services had led to a “skyrocketing suicide rate” among incarcerated people. The court found that prison officials don’t identify people with serious mental health needs. There’s no adequate treatment for incarcerated people who are suicidal. And Alabama prisons discipline people with mental illness, often putting them in isolation for long periods of time.
With prison rape and gang violence rising we investigate matters presented to us to ensure that your loved on is safe. This...is a fight many people turn a blind eye to.
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Gain Your Freedom
Our organization puts together winning arguments for every level of court for post conviction. The question for many is, what exactly is post conviction litigation?“Post-Conviction” defined: In the United States legal system, the term “post-conviction” refers to the legal process which takes place after a criminal trial results in a conviction of the defendant, or where a defendant accepts a plea of guilty or no-contest. After conviction, a court will proceed with sentencing the defendant. In the criminal justice system, once a defendant has received a guilty verdict, he or she can then challenge a conviction or sentence. This takes place through different legal actions, known as filing an appeal or a state and/or federal habeas corpus proceeding. The goal of these proceedings is exoneration, or modification of an excessive and/or illegal sentence. If lacking representation, the defendant may consult or hire an attorney to exercise his or her legal rights.
The United States Supreme Court has held that all defendants convicted in a U.S. court, whether it be state or federal, are entitled to the appointment of counsel on the direct appeal only. Once the direct appeal is final, further representation may be obtained at the defendants personal expense. The post-conviction process is in place to protect both innocent and guilty individuals, from inherent human error in the criminal justice system. One study cites 10,000 innocent people are convicted each year in the United States, and tens of thousands (possibly more), receive illegally imposed sentences in excess of what the law allows.
The Appellate Process: The appeals process is the request for a formal change of a decision made by a court of law. The litigant who files the appeal is known as the “appellant.” A successful appeal must demonstrate to a higher court that the trial court made a decision affected by legal error. The appellate procedure in the United States takes place in appellate court, which makes its judgment based only on the record of the original case. The appellant generally submits a document of legal arguments called a “brief,” a written attempt to persuade the judges of appellate court that the decision of the trial court should be reversed. If selected for an “oral argument,” appellants may present a short spoken argument to the court. No additional pieces of evidence or witnesses are considered. All additional evidence that was not presented to the court during the trial must be submitted in a post-conviction proceeding only.
The inherent problem with the appellate process is that it is limited to the “four-corners” of what happened at the trial; additional evidence is not allowed. Therefore, the vast majority of appeals are denied. As such, if trial counsel made a series of mistakes, the fact of the errors may be admitted on appeal, but counsels reasoning may not be as it goes to his or her state of mind. The only way to introduce evidence of why counsel failed to do something, or why counsel chose to commit an error, is by way of a post-conviction proceeding such as a petition for writ of habeas corpus. In some cases, the courts may consolidate an appeal with a habeas corpus proceeding, but this is usually reserved only for select capital cases only.
