I spent 36 years in prison for a crime that I didn’t do. Trump is right for forgiveness

For 36 years, I have marked the time within the walls of the prison. With a life sentence hanging on me, I lacked the first day of my son’s school, my daughter’s wedding, my mother’s funeral – everything for a crime that I have not committed, While the real insurance eliminated.

What distinguishes My story is not unjustly unjust – It is the rare gift of the first freedom. In 2017, the Governor of Missouri granted clemency during his first year, rejecting the conventional wisdom that mercy is politically safer at the end of Term.

President Donald Trump’s Recent initial second-term forgives echo to this principle-E and clearly contrasting with business as usual: Obama has reserved 61% of the forgiveness for its last year, Biden concentrated 90% in his, and Trump’s first term saw 84% of the clemefulness grouped in the closing moments of his administration.

Trump forgives the founder of Nikola sentenced for fraud

The presidents do not only save clemency for the last few years, but for the last hours: Trump with 116 forgives when his mandate expired, the presidents Barack Obama with 330 on his last day and Bill Clinton with 177 while he left the door.

President Donald Trump has signed many forgiveness since the beginning of his second term, which is different from his predecessors. File: Trump signs an executive order in the East Room of the White House of Washington, Thursday 20 March 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)

Why such a delay? Instinct for political survival. The forgiveness of the republican president Gerald Ford of President Richard Nixon probably cost him the presidency in 1976, while the democratic governor of Massachusetts Michael Dukakis Willie Horton Furlough made his 1988 presidential campaign derail. The lesson became clear: they only dispense mercy when the voters can no longer be a punishment.

Trump’s first grace highlight exactly because managers generally wait: they fear the recourse. His clemefulness of January 6 have aroused intense criticism, with the detractors who see loyalty premiums rather than the recognition of rehabilitation. These concerns deserve the debate, but to fix themselves on those who receive Misericordia obscures the crucial truth about when – delayed justice is denied by justice.

I witnessed this reality behind the bars daily. Women with elementary education have become graduates; Broken spirits transformed into mentors. Yet the cruel irony of the system remained: the clear rehabilitation did not mean anything against political calculation.

My case shows this point. Despite the most recommendations of the Conditional Freedom Council for the release, six governors have left my file intact. When the seventh granted granted clemency in 2017, I recovered what politics almost stolen, keeping four prones at birth instead of seeing them through the photographs through the prison tables.

This human cost has a stunning tax counterparty: taxpayers spend $ 42,000+ for federal prisoner every year, $ 33,274+ for state detainees. The burden of American detention approaches the year of $ 1 trillion of dollars, according to the Institute for Justice Research and Development, which included “costs for imprisoned people, families, children and communities”. Timely Mercy could redirect these billions towards the education, health care and renewal of the community.

The Americans agree in an overwhelming way: 80% of the support expanded the presidential switching, with support almost identical by both political fields, including 84% of Harris supporters and 80% of Trump supporters. This consent extends through the reform of criminal justice, where 81% of Americans favor reforms. Reductions of the sentences and eliminating the mandatory minimums also share strong bipartisan support.

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This rare harmony reflects the way in which the reform resonates through the values: the tax conservatives refuse the expensive expenditure for non -violent transgressors; Progressives turn to racial inequalities; The leaders of faith appreciate redemption; Constitutionalists defend legal protections. All paths lead to a conclusion: the mass imprisonment fails our country morally, financially and practically.

This widespread agreement has already produced tangible results. The 2018 First Step Act passed with an overwhelming bipartisan support, reducing the sentences and expanding rehabilitation programs. Signed by Trump, he united divergent voices such as the progressive democratic senator of the New Jersey Cory Booker and the conservative republican senator Iowa Chuck Grassley.

I witnessed this reality behind the bars daily. Women with elementary education have become graduates; Broken spirits transformed into mentors. Yet the cruel irony of the system remained: the clear rehabilitation did not mean anything against political calculation.

Further progress require the rethinking of clemency as a moral imperative, not a political responsibility. The practical reform would implement quarterly revisions of clemency that give priority to elderly prisoners, those with disproportionate non -violent phrases and those that demonstrate rehabilitation.

A diversified panel – including supporters of the victims, legal experts and justice specialists – would provide an ethical guide and political isolation, shifting attention from avoiding disputes to the reconstruction of life.

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I take this restoration. Today, I support me through work, I support for those who are still confined and treasure of the simple rhythms of life: help for homework, holidays without surveillance, gardening during the seasons. Every morning it offers the silent favorite miracle from what to eat, who to see, when to go out.

For thousands of people still waiting for that freedom, I hope that leaders will find the courage to act when justice requires, not when politics allows it. In our divided nation, the second possibilities offer a rare common ground – in which the tradition of rupture serves not only justice and families, but our conviction shared in the ability of America of responsibility and grace.