This is Matthew Charles, the first prisoner to be released in the First Steps Act. If you have not heard his testimony, I strongly encourage you to do so.  I have hesitated to share my story because of the climate that we find ourselves in as a country. The environment that does not allow for civil dialog without the threat of being shut down, but here is just the tip of my iceberg. I am going into my 5th year of volunteering as a teacher and mentor in the prison system of Louisiana and now Mississippi. I saw the devastation of the 1994 crime bill on the population, especially the African American community. I tried to advocate for individuals that were being kept incarcerated because of the 1994 crime bill with no wiggle room for early release. Then I was blessed to work hand in hand with a female inmate after the First Steps Act was signed in December of 2018. Because of this act, a young African American woman is able to attend a transitional Christian ministry program for a year along with time served instead of a minimum of 10 years that the Biden Crime Bill would have demanded. So instead of being 30 to 50 years old when she is free ( along with the trauma of being in a state prison) the judge was able to review and design her rehabilitation according to her full story, and she will be 19 years old with job training, counseling, and her GED in her resume. Without the First Steps Act, that would NOT have been possible. I have sat in multiple court rooms hearing multiple sentences, and hers was the first one that allowed for full humane consideration to be used. I truly urge you to research the Crime Bill of 1994 and compare it to First Steps Act.  Also, I am not trying to be decisive. I am trying to offer my first hand experience. So any and all comments that are in the least way decisive I will delete from the “left and the right” so please just be encouraging. #1994crimebill #firststepsact #matthewcharles https://www.instagram.com/p/CEKE7R4lDdS/?igshid=hguna8t33y93
