Do Felons Deserve a Second Chance, Obama Thinks So [Reader Post]

My brother is a convicted felon. He is slowly putting his life back together and I am proud of him.

Hello Sean: I have to admit that I was surprised by your story, which prompted me to post a comment, in the aggregate you make a valid argument, however I want you to think about those individuals that have made mistakes and have been convicted of a felony and do apply for a job and are turned down… Our first reaction would be ‘to bad, you should not have committed the crime!’ Ok fair enough, now what? The stigma that comes with being an ex-felon is tantamount to sinking or swimming when your trying to turn your life around. I agree the government should not subsidize ex-felons for being ex-felons! What I believe your missing is the true meaning of a second chance, if you pay for your crime by being put in prison then when you are released must you continue to pay for your crime? How long does an ex-felon have to be stigmatized, treated like out casts, what about their families, if you spent 1 year in prison and have a felony you have a criminal record for LIFE…Think about this! Your fortunate to have a website and now a bachelors degree, and a loving wife….Great! So do I, and thank God for that, nevertheless we still are stigmatized and will be for LIFE! Now I’m sure I’m better off then most and yes I have two degrees, in Org. Management and Leadership and yes I work for a multinational organziation based in Europe, and yes I have the two cars and big house but I do carry the stigma that you and I share. Perhaps as the years go by and you get older you will understand how much it hurts to keep a secret for something Dumb you did when you were young! The solution in my opinion is found on the Sentencing Project’s website, look up “A blueprint for change.” I’m happy for you and proud (whether you like it or not) becuase there are so many Americans disenfranchised by the laws in this country, think about those ex-felons that do not want a hand-out but want a fair chance, there’s no fair chance as an ex-felon. I have no sypamthy for sex offenders or child molestors, but what about your friend from school that got into drugs and went to jail for selling drugs or using drugs, think about this… If we work towards sealing criminal records after a certain time period of being on the right path this would help our nation and its people in many ways… I’m done.. Oh by the way I’m Conservative and believe in the constitution of this country, not a liberal knuckle head tree hugger. I bleed RED WHITE and BLUE, by I’m also a Christian and believe in redemption. I believe you have to pay for your mistakes, but there has to be an end game! Good Luck!

Jerry Hammond. He was a long time city councilman in Columbus, Ohio back in the late 70s, early 80s, where I grew up. Very well respected gentleman, was in advertising/p.r. for a utility company or insurance company or something. He used to go to elementary schools and talk with kids about staying out of trouble with the law. He would always talk about how he and some friends burglarized a laundromat in Indiana when he was 18. He went to prison for a year, got out and never looked back.*

Ohio at the time permitted convicted felons to vote. Being able to vote and get involved turned his life around. If you want a sure fire way for felons NOT to get reintegrated into society, make it hard for them to get jobs and make sure they cannot vote for school levies, mayor, etc. See how much commitment people have to society when youthful crimes keep them forever on the outside looking in.

* I would skip over the fact that some dumb GOPer who could never outpoll Hammond, more than 10 years after he got on city council, tried to have him removed from office because he was a convicted felon. The GOPer governor of Indiana pardoned Hammond within a week or two and the idiot insurrection died with laughter all around.

TammyL, Sean, I completely agree. The original purpose of our justice system was to punish people who couldn’t make right on the situation you caused. Way back when, if you were caught stealing, for example, you had to pay restitution. If you couldn’t, you were punished.

The problem with today’s criminal justice system, is there are numerous victimless crimes. The state, it seems, wants to make everyone a criminal from drugs to guns.

I look at it this way, when I was sentenced, the judge basically pointed to me and said “You are one of the few I have seen that can turn their lives around.” When asked about my plea, I had the option of 1 or 2 years probation. I asked for the 2 years and my 200 hours of community service.

I have done far better for myself than I expected (in some ways). I have had no run-ins, minus the regular stream of traffic tickets, over the last 15+ years. If I was going to fall back into my old activities, I would have done so long before now.

So, I say give non-violent offenders a second chance, with the expectation if anything ever happened again, both the new conviction(s) and old conviction would be restored.

It seems only right to give those who have made the change to be productive members get the full opportunities afforded them. Strange that I might suffer for a relatively minor indiscretion as a youngster when someone whose crimes were far more serious gets their record expunged simply because it was a state crime versus federal.

Amazing post, Sean. Truly inspirational.

According to more than two SJA Officers in my group, if the convictions were State and not Federal, you can petition your Governor for clemency and have restored voting rights as well as the rest. It will also give credibility for being hired for jobs that you may seek in the future. Federal convictions have a higher degree of difficulty but for non-violent offenses it is possible to get adjudication relief.

Just my 2 cents worth on that subject.

Thanks for sharing, Strongbow. Again Sean, thanks for this post – you brought out some really good comments

@PacoP: I loved what you had to say. I have a daughter that is a felon and I’ve been through the whole job thing with her. When she is released she has to live with me because she is broke. I’ve driven her around to look for those jobs and it’s worn both of us out. So out of despondency and the stigma she carries, she ends up with the people who accept her back and ends up re offending and going back. She is also bi polar. Yeah I know it’s used as an excuse for a lot of bad behavior. However she was that way before she ever took a drug. The drug use exacerbated it certainly but didn’t cause it. I was a single working mother, trying to make ends meet so I didn’t catch it like I wish I had of. Now I am a grand mother and raising my grand daughter when I should be retiring and reaping the rewards of having been a viable citizen and tax payer for years. People need that second chance. There are so many felons out there out of work with too much time on their hands and so much negativity. I can tell you that prison does not rehabilitate. It makes you a better , more bitter criminal. So if you think people are getting their just deserts, then don’t complain when you become a victim. We need a better plan. I’m writting my congress people offering my help.

Well look at the stats…. most convicted felons never get the chance to get back on track… i don’t know about you, but i was convicted at 17 as an adult for a non violent crime… I was in college a year away from my degree in education, but as my senior year camearound i was told i could not complete me degree because the board of education would dismiss and applicant if he or she was convicted as a felon. I came back to my home town bounced around a couple of jobs. I then landed the only job a felon could get in my town and survive. They made railcars. The pay was good but it was a stressful job and too think i was on honor roll and had dreams, now i had a jobs with all the people i grad. with that had not dreams after high school. So it’s not playing a victim card it is a fact. It is really hard for felons to find jobs now that we are in a modern era depression. Who the hell do you think they are going to hire. A felon or a non felon….. no matter which is better suited the job the non felon will get the job 9 times out of 10 if not 10 out of 10. If you are lucky enough to have friends or family that have connections to get you a good job, but those are far and few. What pisses me off the most is i went to school and would have had my degree and teaching by now, but no because of a mistake i did almost 9 years ago and can’t get any job paid thorugh the state or federal government. Any body got any ideas?? email me rmb_103@hotmail.com

I too was convicted of a non violent felony in 99. I served 5 yrs. probation and have had no arrest since. In my state the only way to remove a felony from your records is an expongement. The only way to exponge a felony is by getting a pardon from the governor. Now the governor has pardoned about 120 people in 36yrs. If you do the math thats about 4 people a yr.
The only other way is to change the expongement law. The only way to do that is contact one of your state senators or rep’s and have them write a bill (to change the code) or you can write your own and have them sponsor it. In my state I do have voting rights. I didn’t find that out until recently so I would also do some research on your state laws. Voting on this issue is the only way it will change. I don’t want a check from uncle sam, I just want to be equal.

To Dr D,
My degree was suppose to be for education and my felon was for withholding infomation on a burgarly that i did not commit, but had knowledge of. Funny the minors that were 16 that actually did commit the crime never got a felony they got miser. I didn’t commit the crime just had knowledge and i was 2 weeks past my 17th birthday which was considered an adult and they never offered me a plea because the others were only 16 and gave them pleas. As far as working hard my friend i’ve done my fairshare. You work in a job with weld dust, a job where 5 people got killed on my shift in little over a year. Please my friend any advice would help, but make sure it’s legit not just a personal suggestion.

RYAN B: hi, MAKE SURE you get the info, why thoses fellows died and, that will help to secure your own way of doing that hard job, make sure you take the time to always have the right clothing on, and the best shield always a good investment,nothing made in china, and you must be alert on that kind of work, it takes less than a second to get cripple on flying debris; I know because i do stainglass and i used welding to assemble so take care. bye

RYAN B: also there are degrees on academic you can find in the internet,it would be usefull for your future, on your offwork time to learn:you seems to be young and the future is your’s to achieve all kinds of good things; you know, the hardest thing happen when your young, it’s a learning process, but it takes a while,and you find it will be easyer more and more, all kinds of goodys will come your way when it’s du to come, we cannot force it but with positive and hope wanting it to come,it will . bye

Ryan

My brother had a very similar happenstance (but worse), and he petitioned the court to espunge his record. It worked, and he got his on with his life. At worse, you’re right where you are now, at mid-level, your felony can be reduced to a misdemenor, and at best, you’ll have it dropped.

As a side-note, have your eyes checked every year for weld-dust accumulation, which can lead to blindness…My brother in-law came close, but caught it in time. Many eye-doctors over-look the inspection, which involves looking very deep in the lower eyelid, so inform them of what your job entails, and flush your eyes every evening and morning from nose-side to temple-side.

Sean,
Things are much harder these days for convicts. Practically every job application asks if you’ve even had a misdeamor, let alone felony! I question how you bought a house in four years? Did you have family money? Because nowadays, a felon could just not do it! Quit bragging about yourself! YOU did NOT do it alone, so don’t think others can either!

http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?topic=108&post=414&uid=131733900186001#!/group.php?gid=131733900186001 Sorry. Link didn’t appear in my post. Second Chances for Convicted Felons.

@ FREEDOM — “just one bad decision at a particular time” was it? Was it really the only bad decision you ever made, or was it the one where you got caught?

If it was truly “just one bad decision” then that would put you in a truly elite group, the exceedingly small group that got caught on the first time. For most felons, getting caught is simply the culmination of a string of lesser bad decisions leading up to the one where they get caught.

In any event, you did get caught and convicted in what we presume was a fair trial. You do not mention being unfairly convicted. Society takes felony crimes seriously, and it permanently marks those who commit them with an indelible stain. This is intended to be a deterrent to others, and now, since you were not deterred, you have to bear that burden to try to warn others. It is a CHOICE YOU made; now you have to live with it. Please stop your whining.

Other felons have gone on to make productive lives for themselves and you can do so also. It is hard and takes more work. That is as it should be and is consistent with the CHOICE YOU made.

If you find this web site upsetting, it is probably because it asks you to face the facts, rather than giving you a lot of sympathy for your destructive choice. You chose to do something against society, now society has marked you. That is life; deal with it. You can move on and make something of yourself in spite of what you have done, or you can forever be first and foremost a felon. The choice also is yours.

IT’S TOO BAD that drug taking cannot be used as a reasonable excuse, when someone get caught doing some of any degree of criminal activity; BUT it ’s not accepted by the judge; Although we know that drugs used, is the culprit, and it can alter your brain,and your consciense to erase the inner knowledge of choosing which is good or bad, so this should be learn and remembered by the young starting to spread their wing toward their future. bye

Going to prison, successfully completing probation, staying clean, etc. these are accepting responsibility. A life sentence of less than adequate opportunities is cruel and unusual punishment.

Yippie, you are one of the small few that find a very to be very very successful after a conviction. It is like a powerball winner saying people should stop crying about not being rich because they are picking the wrong powerball numbers. Not that you got lucky, you worked hard I am sure, but like the man that can never be a teacher. I think that is rediculous. Crime is unrelated to the job, it was many years ago, and he paid his debt to society.

Again, you are the high and mighty, you made it Dr D so you can talk down on us struggling to find what you found as if we do not try but the reality is you can declare bankruptcy and screw creditors for 1000s/millions even, and that disappears in 10 years but not a crime worth substantially less.

Get off your high horse. Good for you, you made it. Now let’s talk reality not about how great you are and not ambitious enough we are.

@ Kelly Lord: I said nothing at all about myself, and it is wrong for you to infer anything about me. I am not looking down on anyone, but only saying that society has rules for a purpose, and those rules must be sustained. They cannot be arbitrarily set aside just because you think that you, or someone else, has a good case. The rules are there to protect society. The rules have been established by the common wisdom of society over the ages, and we break them at our peril. Modern society has shown a major tendency to disregard the wisdom of the past, and in every instance, the results have been disaster.

Your powerball statement was foolishness. The only thing I can say to anyone about powerball is quit; it is a foolish waste of your money. Use what money you have more wisely than that. If you are throwing money away on powerball or any other form of gambling, then you deserve to fail again and again.

You whine, “… but the man can never be a teacher.” Do you not see the reason for this? Teachers are examples to impressionable young people. He has demonstrated without any doubt what sort of an example he is capable of being. He may not do it again, but he has demonstrated that he is fully capable of doing it. Society prefers to try to find people to teach that we believe to be incapable of these crimes (at least so believed until proved otherwise).

What ever it was that he was going to teach, presumably he can simply go do in real life, provided it is something of actual value (not angry studies). The world has not ended, but the course of his life has definitely shifted because of a choice that he made. This happens every day to everyone of us, including you and me. You are cut off today from opportunities you had yesterday, even though you may no realize it. Even so, it has happened because you did not actively pursue them yesterday.

Get over being angry at me. All I am doing is speaking the truth which you evidently do not want to hear at this time. This is not about me, but about the felon and society; that is all.

First I apologize for the personal attack. Bad judgement in my case. I agree all societies have rules and they are for a reason but that doesn’t mean they are just and right. IMHO he demonstrated he could make a stupid mistake like a lot of kids do. George Bush is accused on using cocaine on more than one time. Is that not a felony? The difference between me and G Dub is I got caught, he didn’t. Beings he didn’t get caught in the act of committing his felony he is allowed not only to vote but to become president. I can’t even vote because I got caught. 17 years ago. I do not have the same decision making process I did 17 years ago from experience. I learned lessons. Still learning. One lesson I am learning daily is forgiveness. To not of been forgiven by society I am a more forgiving person.

I find it very hard to believe you can not empathize with a frustrated felon. For the record I am not living at home in my 30s, nor do I have a 400 credit score.

The beginning of my frustration started after scoring the highest on 4 apptitude tests than any other applicant, and successfully passed three interviews to take a job that paid about a third of what I was making at the time. The reason I wanted the job was for the tuition reimbursement. I received a letter of hired upon passing a drug screen and background check. I was open in the interview. I told them 17 years ago such and such happened. They said well you are well qualified, we like you etc etc. Their call is yes, was impressed about my resume and turning my life around, etd. but there will be a final decision made by someone higher up the corporate ladder in regards to the criminal background.

So I started googling and asking around and a lot of people have this issure. Old records that haunt them to this day. Some only misdermeanors.

Again back to the bankruptcy analogy. So if the rules of society are there for a reason and it seems that you find them fair, would you say it is ok to be irresponsible with your credit, shop to you drop, etc etc then declare Chapter 7 BK, NEVER pay back your debt and 10 years later it disappears like it never happened? That is the rule. I feel criminal records should be treated more like credit records. After 7 years bad credit comes off, BKs and civil judgements in 10 years.

Granted, murderers, rapists, serious assaults, and other very serious crimes should be a judgement of one’s character for a long time if not ever. Certain things you can never give back to society like a life or the loss of sleep a woman may go through after someone breaks in to her home and rapes her. Some young adult getting caught with weed, or breaking in to a building, and plenty of other examples of crimes that could be paid back or as in the case of the teenage weed smoker, well that’s another episode regarding personal freedoms. As I was saying, a repayable crime shouldn’t be a mark of one’s character forever. Mistakes, dumb choices, lack of proper rearing as a child, poverty, prior drug addiction, and other motivating factors make people make decisions they otherwise wouldn’t or after going through the system may decide they will never partake in those types of events ever again. Time will tell if their good intentions were honest. Assuming they were then we as a society should forgive them and treat them as forgiven persons and allow them the same pursuits as those never caught doing their wrong doings.

This is simply one man’s opinion. Myself, I am in sales, make close to a six figure commissioned based pay, and have a lot of nice things. I am great at sales, I just do not like it. I would like to pursue another career, the one of my choice will never happen if the rules of society stand in regards to forever punishing those that committed crimes regardless of how old they are.

Sean I dont need you to prove anything to me my mind is made up about you. You see your views on the subject are the same as a gunshot victim saying to the doctor “dont fix me just stick a finger in it, I love the pain” LOL.
And Dr D I didn’t know that they taught the difference between misdemeanor and felony in grade school. Which school was that? And your wrong you see politicians pass laws therefore politicians passed this law. I also believe that everyone should except responsibility for their actions. But where we differ is I also believe that people can change and want to. Have you ever talked to a felon who just got released from prison? Everyone I have known is very optimistic. And when they can not get a job they will usually return to crime as a way to pay their bills. Keeping a felony on someones record for life will and does create crime.

My views are not twisted, they are indeed fact. And I make no excuse for returning to crime but come at you with a fact as why people would and do return to crime. And if I did put words in your mouth I am sorry but this blog has turned into people basically saying if you have a felony get over it , there is nothing you can do. But getting over it is not an option, what you can do is fix it. Just because you have a felony does not make you a second class citizen after all I pay just as much taxes as everyone else. At least Obama has mentioned felony rights even though I dont agree with his plan. The republican plan is to do nothing but trash Obama’s plan as usual. Why cant the republicans think of something except doing nothing. LOL Its funny that the republican party actually started by freeing the oppressed and now condemn them for life. Good luck Sean on your quest for nothing : )

@ Chill
“If you are going to punish people even with misdemeanors for life then why should they pay taxes?”

Just where does this fit into your argument? Misdemeanors do not make a person a felon. But they pay taxes to avoid falling afoul of the tax man, just the same as everybody else.

You say that you are a conservative, but then you don’t really talk like one. So perhaps you are a “liberal conservative,” a schizophrenic. To be a conservative requires a degree of consistency beyond what you have said.

As to your comparison of the woman with three abortions versus the person smoking pot, and the argument that in each case “it is their own body.” A flawed argument in one case is no reason we have to repeat the mistake a second time.

Roe v. Wade was a bad decision that has resulted in the deaths of countless millions of children in the womb, murdered by their mothers with assistance. This is a national tragedy that has cost our nation dearly and continues to do so every day that it goes forward. As one slogan put it, “an abortion does not make you unpregnant, it simply makes you the mother of a dead child.” The impact on these women is terrible, as it should be because they have elected to murder their children.

Society makes mistakes at times, and at other times it gets things right. Just because we made a mistake on the abortion law does not mean we have to make another on the drug laws. Thus your “equivalence” argument is not worth the “two cents” you put into it.

Dr. D,
Even you admit that the abortion law is wrong. Yet the government makes many mistakes and lives on to see another day with no remorse or punishment. Yet when people do these same mistakes the government throw these repentant criminals under the bus. Why are we the people held to a different standard than the flawed government? The only thing I can think of is that the government will never replace God. God forgives the government won’t.

Dr. D I have to agree with that. We know that people in government can mess up many peoples lives in the private sector much more than the one felon who wrote bad checks for example. People in government can cause much more harm and yet they never pay. This is why I don’t count on the government, even for one small favor. It’s better to handle things for yourself.

The government is a joke. They need to change their laws they made up. This is gods land. But they formed there stupid laws and formed lawmen to protect them from their own laws. They took over free land and called it theirs. They stole from god. Government steals and god heals. Government does not forgive God has given. I Don’t know.

I believe in second chances. I was charged with a felony 17 years ago. I’m almost 34 now. My crime? Along with a couple of other poor kids we threw a rock through the window of a bicycle shop and stole 3 bicycles. I’m now a felon. Of course I was wrong but I’m paying for this crime for the rest of my life over a broken window and a bicycle. I’ve lost my faith in local and federal governments when it comes to justice. It’s all about making money to them. I can’t have my record expunged because the court waited until I turned 18 to have a hearing. They waited months to try me just so they can get an adult conviction. That is very very sad if you ask me.

Dr. D, I was a kid who stole a bicycle. That doesn’t constitute a felony. If I weren’t poor and could afford a decent lawyer I’d have probably gotten a misdemeanor, which I can live with. Yea I marked myself but no one deserves a life time of punishment. I’ve served in the military. I have 2 college degrees. I’m a contributing citizen; albeit a second class citizen. I made a mistake; I don’t deserve this stigma just like many others don’t deserve this stigma. I’ve long since paid for the window and the bicycle. If you justify my life time of punishment you are crazy and on an intellectual level way below me; a felon.

@ Will
As long as you continue to justify your actions(I was a kid who stole a bicycle), you still have not accepted your guilt. You will continue to see things this way indefinitely until you do recognize that you were the one at fault, just you. The fact that you were a kid makes no difference, the fact that you were poor makes no difference. Stealing is still stealing, no matter what the circumstances (we are not talking here about taking food to feed yourself when you are starving).

I think it is very interesting that you think yourself my intellectual superior simply because you see things differently than I do. You say you have two college degrees, and that is a good thing. It is clear that being a felon has not prevented you from getting a good education. I have three degrees: BS, MS, and PhD in engineering. Are you sure you are my intellectual superior?

No, Will, you are the one with the anger management problem, the denial of just what the situation really is. I am not the dumbass; I am not the felon. I knew enough to stay out of trouble but you did not.

Nobody has said you deserve a life time of punishment, nor are you getting a lifetime of punishment. As I said earlier, if you had cut your finger off in the process of steal those goods, you would have been marked by being short one finger. That would be a permanent mark, but you would get on with your life without the finger. Even so, marked as a felon, you must get on with your life with the mark you have placed upon your life.

Nobody says that you cannot redeem yourself in this life. But you will have to work at it, and you will have to be prepared to deal with this when ever it comes up because the mark is permanent. You put it there, just like a tattoo. Nobody says that you are a habitual criminal, but you will have to show that you are not. Go out and show that you are not. You say that a felon may save someone’s life some day and that is no doubt true. A felon will take someone’s life some day as well, so that is where the rub comes. Be sure that you are in the good group, rather than the bad group, and it will be recognized.

Calling me a dumbass suggests pretty strongly that you still have not come to terms with the fact that YOU SCREWED UP, not somebody else. I have done nothing but carry on a civil conversation with you, even if I have disagreed with your point of view. You have been unable to accept that others do not see you as the righteous, put-upon, mistreated person you think you are. Until you come to realize that it was you who broke the rules of society, and you will have to live with that, you are going to beat your head against the wall over and over. (Its going to hurt.) You can try to get society to change the rules if you think you really have a case, but no one else has had much luck with that yet. Otherwise, you can quit complaining, quite talking about continuing to be punished because you really are not except in your own mind, and get on with your life as you have made it for yourself. Our actions, even at early ages, do have consequences. Sometimes those consequences are painful. That’s where you are.

Your outta here Will….buh bye

@ Dr D
Are you British ? You really are a self righteous prick. Its kind of funny that you mentioned the ten commandments in your post as if you are religious and if you are going to claim to be you would be nothing but a Hippocrate. And just because you would place a “D” and a “R” in front of a “D” does not make you a real Doctor. Thats all I’ve got just wanted to insult you.
you little prick.

JAKE , instead of being angry at someone who give you good advices; JUST get angry at yourself and make a quick about turn and change your negative ATTITUDE to continue a life with new VISION of the future, which will surely bring loving moments that will make your memory to treasure them instead of the negative thoughts you have left behind. LIFE is to precious to waste time in bad feeling, look ahead and never look back. bye

Bees, I think the answer to you comment to BROB is that the Dems don’t give a hoot about the American people, felons or nonfelons. The Dems are looking for power, and anyone that can and will contribute to their quest for power is a group that they will pander to for the moment. Once they have secured the support of that group, the group will be treated no better than anyone else.

A classic case in point is the black people of America. The Dems carry on endlessly about how they “care for the black people.” But what do they do for the black people? They create endless welfare programs, affirmative action programs, set aside programs, etc. all of which have totally demoralized the black people of America. They have told black people, and the blacks have believed them, that black people are inferior and cannot compete fairly on their own merit. They have to always have endless “help.” The welfare programs have been designed in such a way as to break apart families because families with a father in the house get far less support than those with no man in the house. Every form of “help” in one way or another, becomes a shackles of dependency, a chain that convinces the blacks that they cannot do without the Dems. Even as the Dems continue to enslave them all the more so. The plight of black Americans has improved little in the last 50 years, despite millions and millions of dollars and much unfairness in their favor.

But it is all about power, getting power and staying in power. It is not in the least bit about helping people.

@ Jake
I don’t know; are you an outcast to society? You need not be, but that is largely up to you.

How you vote is entirely up to you. I certainly do not care.

You are half right about Jesus. Jesus preaches first repentance and then forgiveness. But really neither of those are the issue here. This thread is largely about whether or not to expunge the felony records of ex-cons. That is a matter of the laws of society. Jesus never once challenged the laws of society. When the Pharisees tried to trick Him with the about paying taxes to Caesar, he asked for a coin, saw the head of Caesar on it, and said, “Render unto Caesar that which is Caesars’ and unto God that which is God’s.” Please go read the Bible a little more closely; it would do a lot of good.

“Render unto Caesar that which is Caesars’ and unto God that which is God’s” So do you worship Caesar? or do you worship god? That to me means pay your taxes and give your soul to god. Your soul is represented with everything that you do. You really made no point here. Are you saying that he meant a separation of church and state. Are you one of people responsible for removing prayer from public schools? Are you also one that would want to remove “under god” from our Pledge of Allegiance. I thought you were a republican. Its starting to come out not Dr.
Tell us more about yourself.

@ Dr. D
You are an undercover Liberal. Dont be ashamed of it. Obama will take you in.

@beeswar
Therapy you might be right. although its not anger its more like a sick since of humor. You see I believe Dr. D’s weakness is his ego. And as far as giving me a job, I’ve held the same job for the past 11 years. So I dont need a job from you anyways.

JAKE: I have to come back to your last comment, and tell you that I am very happy for you
having that job for 11 years, that put you in the lucky ones who have a hard time
finding a job, so when you start counting your blessing and compare with others that are having trouble to find work; YOU realy can thank GOD for your standing and feel better,than you sound to be in your comment, and you dont yet know of what kind of goodys will come your way in
your future, and I truly wish you all the good things coming,
you know thoses goodys come not when we want but in their own times which is the right time, YOU’LL SEE ,when you get there what i mean, bye

JAKE: ONE more thing you have to do: GET off THAT ANGER, it’s a poison and you dont realize it:
I was hoping that you would let this one go, and pick up the best of it and carry on your life
BUT I underestimated your anger that you direct at opposite oppinions which try to help you face the problem:
SO there is no usefull way to continiue,this argument, let’s say ,I wish the best for you
and your loved ones, and, dont never hurt their feelings. bye

What is wrong with people, casting judgment on other’s I have a felony, but it’s not from a rape case or a child molestation case but still I’m not one to judge, who are you to say that somebody shouldn’t have a shoulder to lean on, so a felon is just supposed to sit here and rot away, have nothing out of life? You don’t know what people go through on a day to day basis. These are trying times, people do things that they never would believe they would have done. People change, nobody is better than anybody else. Watch your words and choose your mindset wisely, you never know, you may just catch a felony and have to live with it in the future. Now days it’s so easy to catch a felony, no matter what color you are.
People deserve a second chance and if they mess that up then you can say all that, but you can’t limit people to they’re past. Life is so much bigger than all that. That’s basically underestimating the possibilities of GOD. Through GOD all things are possible. I’m no saint but I sure have seen GOD work through me and others. I haven’t found a job, but I know my time is coming. I know that this isn’t the end for me. I am not angry with your views but please, please, think outside of the box, the world isn’t flat. The same people who you judge and say are this and that may be the person who saves your life. God Bless you and yours

I believe Will should be pardoned and should be able to move on. One thing this evil government likes to do is to keep people enslaved and dependant. It’s a sad day when this evil government says that it’s OK to suck the brains out of a living baby, and it’s their constitutional right, yet a man who is repentant has to live with the scars. Everyone and their grandmothers are getting some kind of amnesty. Look at the illegals I hear the cries of Amnesty, and they are breaking the laws. Gays in the military say don’t ask and don’t tell, well how would they like it if the repentant criminal don’t volunteer information about their past? Look at the draft dodgers it was a felony and Jimmy Carter pardoned them, but Mohamed Ali had to spend 3 years in jail. Bill Clinton became president because he was pardoned. It used to be a crime to commit sodomy now it’s out of the closet and praised. In the old testament is was punishable by death.
So for those who want to throw Will under the bus you are wrong. How about if everyone who made a mistake would die instantly, well guess what no one would live. Jesus came down from heaven and died on the cross for our mistakes. For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus. So people on this board who want to throw the repentant criminal under the bus, just remember that your day is approaching soon.
I believe Will could get a governors pardon with no trouble. Just remember George Bush had a criminal record, and he became President. Will the government may reject you but Christ won’t don’t give up man there are some out here that believe in you.