Life Without Parole
 by Hayward C. "Habe" Lawson

A life sentence for 1st-degree murder in the state of Colorado has always been just that - life. In years past, the average time actually served was from twelve to fifteen years, with some getting out in seven years or so, and some serving upwards of twenty years before being paroled. The length of time on parole varied from case to case, being determined by the paroling authorities. It was an orderly process, and a rarity indeed when a "Lifer" caused any serious social problems once released.
   In the early 1970's a process sort of... evolved in which a person serving a life sentence had to do minimum of 10 calendar years before becoming eligible for parole consideration. A few... "Jailhouse Lawyers" dug back through the law books and came up with the argument a person serving a life sentence was eligible, just like all the other prisoners, to earn good time, thus reducing their actual time-to-be-served to around five years!!
    Naturally, this wasn't the intent of the legislature at all, so new laws were enacted that caused a lifer to have to serve twenty calendar years before parole consideration. The concept was, of course, that a twenty-year sentence, factoring in the "good time" would make it ten actual years that must be serve - exactly where it was before the jailhouse lawyers mired everything up.
   Unfortunately, the mood of the hard-liner (Lock'em-up-and-throw-away-the-keys) came into popularity and that, along with the court rulings lifers were not eligible to earn any sort of good time, started the downward spiral into more time , more time and even MORE time. The ten years became twenty, acid roe, beat of the drums was just warming up. The hard-liners really got a head of steam going over the next few years, DOUBLING sentences for every class of felony. This catapulted the life sentences to a minimum of forty calendar years one had to serve before any kind of parole consideration!!
    The beat of the drums got even more deafening ‘til we got to where we currently are - life without the possibility of parole ever. Please keep in mind; the general elements of murder haven't somehow worsened over the years. Some of them have been of a particularly horrendous nature. All of them have had horror and sadness and misery wrapped tightly about them.
    Gang involvement /drug problems have added a lot to the mix over the years, and it's a most horrible, deplorable shame so many of our young kids have the noose of life without the possibility of parole around their necks.
   LIFE WITHOUT PAROLE That is NOT a 'Life" sentence. It is, by far, the cruelest form of death one could possibly have. The sentencing judge might as well make it crystal clear and say, "We are not going to kill you right now. We are going to lock you in a cage and keep you there for thirty or forty or maybe fifty years or MORE, and then we're gonna kill you! ! !"
    What a terrible, terrible atrocity to burden our society with! We must, if we are to survive as a progressive nation, roll back the prison sentences and let common sense decency and logic become our way of handling our social problems that must be dealt with. Life without the possibility of parole - a society without a future...

March, 2000

June 8th, 2000 Reader Comment:

Dear Editors, 

    I have read with great interest the letters written by Habe Lawson and Richard Rossi concerning the issue of  LWOP.
    I live in the state of Michigan where we have LWOP for first degree murder convictions.  In my own town I have seen men as young as 18 years old receiving this sentence.  They will never again have the taste of freedom for as long as they live.  They chose this path.  They chose to take the life of another human being.
This is why I believe that LWOP is a fair sentence:  These young men imposed the DEATH SENTENCE on their victims.  In one case the victims were two young people working in a video store.  They were made to get on their knees and they were executed by being shot in the back of the head.  They committed no crime.  They didn't have their day in court. They were doing their jobs...for minimum wage...one was saving for college and the other was saving for a trip.  The two criminals appointed themselves executioners and cold bloodedly killed two innocent people.  I think LWOP more than fair.  Their two victims were robbed of their lives, the shooters should suffer the same fate.
    When you make the choice to rob another human being of life, it's only just that you lose your own...one way or another.

Linda Redding, MI

Habe's Answer

Thanks for sending me the CELL DOOR effort. I'm sure pleased someone is out there fighting the fight - I praise your involvement, and am rooting for a successful venture, by golly. Following is the answer you've requested re my Life Without Parole Article:

    The argument that Linda Redding from Michigan makes in defense of the life without parole (LWOP) sentences being meted out cannot be denied nor made light of. It's for sure she speaks the general voice of the free-world populace, and represents the iron bars and stonewalled barriers that have risen so powerfully between incarcerated individuals and any hope they might possibly be in possession of for any sort of future.
    It's easy to say, "They've made their choices, and deserve the sentence(s) they've received", but the problems and their solutions go deeper, much deeper than that. It is especially difficult, much more so, when you throw young people into the pits of an inhumane prison and merely turn your back on them. It may be an extremely inadequate analogy to liken the crime of murder in the first degree to-,that of a drunken or careless driver smashing into a 100% innocent person, taking his life in the process, but an analogy can be made. I don't argue the fact a..."choice" was made, for it takes a genuine idiot/fool not to know automobiles are to be operated with extreme care and caution at ALL times but, in all fairness, it really wasn't a simple act of making a deplorable..."choice".
    You see, only a person with his/her I. life 1f complete disarray puts another human being's well-being or life in jeopardy. A mature, healthy, "normal" adult person couldn't even conceive such a barbaric act, yet it's oh-so-true we read daily how this very action does indeed occur, somewhere in America, every single day, many times over.
    The real "choice", and it is a very scary, deplorable one, is the cold-blooded calculation the various states have made to strap a portion of their citizenry down and murder them, or throw them into a prison cell forever and ever and ever.
    Now that, Ms. Redding, is a CHOICE!!
    A solution? Thanks for asking. Our present society is in a world of hurt, no doubt, and drastic measures are called for to correct the downward spiral we are currently trapped in. Supreme effort must be given our children. Every bit of resources we can muster up have to be directed toward the social growth and education of our young people. Though there are many men and women in prison that simply have to be there, for whatever the reason, there are countless thousands (and thousands and thousands) of incarcerated individuals across the country that would gladly be part of the solution'. if given the opportunity.
    I could write reams on establishing viable programs, but I really don't think that's necessary, and I don't feel this is the venue...

Respectfully Submitted,

Hayward C. "Habe" Lawson

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