god, revealed itself to me and said it s time to get your life right. i stayed in that confinement cell for 90 days. then they transferred me to another prison. when i got to the other prison, i started making aa and m.a. meetings. i started going to church. i started reading the bible more, studying. jones served 18 years of a 25-year sentence at a florida state prison before he was released on parole. he moved into the noah house, a residential substance abuse program, in tampa. they help ex-offenders get a fresh start in life. they help you stay straight, you know. i wanted to stay straight. i didn t want to go back to prison. i always, you know, participated. and so they finally gave me a job. my job title was peer advocate. and i basically helped ex-offenders. jones was doing well. he says he would ride his bicycle to various other halfway houses to recruit participants for programs at noah house. but eight months into his parole, things went horribly wrong one day when he d
a prominent research study estimates that 1 in 31 american adults are either incarcerated, on probation or on parole. just as interesting is the fact that many of the inmates we ve met have told us they actually prefer serving out their sentences in prison to being freed on parole. they say it s difficult to find work and that the parole rules are so strict that they can make a simple mistake and end up in prison where they cause more pain for their families and further tarnish their reputation. few inmates illustrated the problem of walking the thin line of parole better than one we met at the jail in tampa, florida. his name is valester jones. when we first entered one of the jail s open dorm housing units, we noticed a guy,
seeing him back at the noah house, he really thrived there. he really loved the sense of responsibility and the fact that he was helping his fellow roommates there. always want to keep the mirror looking good. mirror looking good, you re looking good. jones is not taking his second chance at freedom for granted. he gives himself a daily reminder of the shortcut that almost sent him back to prison. i purposely ride my bike that way not to go through there. i go around the long way. but even going around the long way, i can see that place. and it s still open. there s still a big old hole in the fence there. people are still going in and out of it. and i say, well, they ll never have to worry about me doing it no more. i just know now i can t do what everybody else does. this last episode of the trespassing really gave me an eye opener even in a greater way that i ve got to watch every little thing. it s the little things that can lead to a big thing like going
period. one behind the other, single-file line. a prominent research study estimates that 1 in 31 american adults are either incarcerated, on probation or on parole. just as interesting is the fact that many of the inmates we ve met have told us they actually prefer serving out their sentences in prison to being freed on parole. they say it s difficult to find work and that the parole rules are so strict that they can make a simple mistake and end up in prison where they cause more pain for their families and further tarnish their reputation. few inmates illustrated the problem of walking the thin line of parole better than one we met at the jail in tampa, florida. his name is valester jones. when we first entered one of the jail s open dorm housing units, we noticed a guy, somewhat intimidating, very large, working out on the yard. and at the same time, one of the inmates was telling us that we needed to interview their jail s
that is the sweetest thing, hey? this is so cute, though. i love my brother. while in jail, melissa earned her ged and had shown a desire to change. i don t want my brothers to be here. we re better than that. we re the allens. we re better than that. as a result of her progress, the judge in her case granted her a transfer to a drug rehab program instead of prison. i take it you re not going to prison? no. no. william had proven responsible behind bars as well. he had a job detail and had earned recognitions. this is the certificate i got for a therapeutic community men s recovery and violence prevention program. and cory seemed to be managing his imaginary friend and sometimes instigator, jimmy, with medication. so here we had a story that started off with the telling of this grisly act of violence, and it turned into a story about the