q2j9
February 29, 2016

Hi Carole,

I have no idea when you posted the most recent comment, but I am replying within a couple days of receiving it. Actually, I just reread it and you posted it on Sunday or Monday last week.

I am glad you are working so hard to get Ron released. I hope it is successful. Perhaps you could let me know the secret of how to get released if your plan works for Ron. I have a great parole plan: perfect conduct record, piles of achievements, etc. One thing I used to tell Ron that he hated to hear is that he keeps giving them an excuse not to release him. He refuses to return to lower security. I spent years in minimum and work release and would go back in a hot second because, even though it isn't release from prison, it'a a heck of a lot better there than the nightmare I'm currently trapped in. But he may be right. Even if he transfers, he still may not get released.

In case he doesn't know, tell him Jerry Fusak was paroled last October and Michael Potts is due to be released in April. This info is from other prisoners so it may not be accurate but it probably is. The parole commission randomly selects lifers to release. There is no rhyme or reason to it. If you win the parole lottery, you get out. If not, you stay. You can also tell him that Randy Rotta got his defer increased to 12 months while he was at Chippewa and was placed in Stanley—for no reason. He completed his program and they hokey-doked him.

The form letter that sys they got the info and will put in the file means just that. Nobody will read it until the hearing and then they'll make a decision that has nothing to do with the facts before them. Ron's codefendant was released about ten years ago (and returned shortly thereafter for drunk driving. I can't imagine what he was thinking. Thirty years in prison and values his freedom so little that he chose to break the law).

I am currently on a writing campaign. I intend to write to every state legislator to tell them about my situation and ask for help. It may not do any good but, by the time I get done, there won't be a single legislator who can say he or she didn't know what is going on with the parole commission.

Nice talking to you.

Harlan