Hey y’all, it’s Chachi. For those who don’t know, I am a long-term juvenile offender who is currently serving a 30-to 60-year prison sentence for a non-homicide offense that I didn’t do.
In the recent years, Philadelphia has been privy to a district attorney that believes in procedural fairness for all, and speaking from a convicted felon perspective may put listeners in awe, but I believe and appreciate the work he has done and what’s being accomplished by his administration. One of his campaign promises was to eliminate excessive sentences. Of course, death by incarceration don’t necessarily mean that you must have a life sentence attached to you. It’s the same whenever individuals have life in numbers.
Within the office of the district attorney, it’s another office called the Integrity Unit. One of the issues that’s incorporated in the context of the Integrity Unit application is sentencing. This section flies in the face of a person such as myself, because I have used every reproach mechanism imaginable to reduce my sentence, and was rejected on all fronts, even by this office. Now, this isn’t a bash campaign against Larry Krasner [Philadelphia DA]. It’s a bash campaign against a practice that appears to overshadow what the office is meant for by procedurally couching the resentencing as such.
The language of integrity pulls the curtain back on the decency. For example, our system of justice protects the interest of the public by punishing an individual as far as he or she is willing to commit an offense or any other offense. Once that person, through their actions, demonstrate that it would never happen again, any further incarceration turns into vengeance – a system of vengeance. Since my incarceration, I jelled the necessary requirements around me with programming, mentoring troubled youth, and advocating against injustice, which speaks to the word recidivism. I ask the people to speak to this issue with one voice by using me as that beacon of change and an anchor for all that’s chained to that hope factor within this Integrity Unit.Thank you. My name is Christopher Hill, FJ4132 at SCI Houtzdale.
These commentaries are recorded by Prison Radio.
