Thomas A. Hightower's profile

WELCOME TO HIGHTOWER'S CORNER

What a precious day today is, unique, one of a kind that will never be repeated again for all eternity. Like today is unique, precious, so are you!

My name is Tom Hightower, but everyone just calls me Hightower. Since I'm the only one at this prison using my last name as a nickname, it's a perfect way to set myself apart as unique. You too are a unique and precious creation. If you remember that, your life will be happy, blessed even, in tough times.

I'm a proud father of seven adult children (ages 19-33). Several grandkids. I have not seen a single family member since 1997 when I came to prison. My own fault. I messed my life up and suffered the price for it. No one to blame but me.

I have never been one to give up on life. I began from my first day of incarceration to turn my life around. This began with a change in my way of thinking. It was hard at first, but now it's natural to me.

My vocation is paralegal. I'm a social justice advocate. Here in California, our prison system is well-known for deplorable medical care and draconian sentences. I got 30 years to life for non-homicide due to one prior conviction in 1982. I deserved prison, I was self-destructing. But no human being deserves to be treated in a way that makes us wish we were dogs at the Sacramento SPCA. A true comparison: animals actually have better conditions of confinement under the law than humans do in jails and prison. Because of this, my life has been very busy with litigation, trying to do the right thing for others.

What has aided me to stay zealous is I have 63 friends to preventable causes in my 17 years of confinement. I also suffer many serious medical problems that leaves me in pain 24/7/365 and on a walker. Yet my life is blessed. I maintain a vigor that puzzles the doctors, who have called me terminal in 1998. But because I put God first, I mounted a cause to bring humanity to these prisons. After all, we will parole someday. Do you want an animal or a human being coming back?

I have a mission in life to bring humanity to the fallen and teach others not to do what I have done. If one life is changed, one soul saved, or one wrong corrected, then my life has meaning and was not wasted.

I look forward to sharing much more with you. Write me, blog me. I so much look forward to hearing from you. There is much more I want to say. I have no trouble with writing long letters and sharing my life with all. Maybe I can help you break the chain that keep you imprisoned in your freedom. more of you out there are in prison of your own, whether it's physical or emotional. The emotional ones are the hardest to break free of. Let us parole together to a life free of these chains that bind us...

IN DEEPEST RESPECT
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Thomas A. Hightower
C-14-108 Low
P.O. Box 40960
Ione, CA 95640-9060

[Colored photo of Hightower. He is wearing glasses and has a beaded cross necklace hanging around his neck. He's smiling at the camera.]