Getting Out of Prison

How is Salina? I hope she was successful in her sobriety and getting custody of her son back...Update, please..

Well its been awhile since Ive seen this and I must say it was interesting doing the show,Ive been out and I havent went back and im currently off parole and it feels good...

Thanks for sharing & Caring this is very good...
P.O.D.W founder

Great story. I'm surprised, I didn't know parole officers were so tough. I thought they might be more involved in helping parolees stay out.

I can't wait for Laura to get back from "vacation."

Great film. Very powerful. Eye opener!
Why does our judicial system jails so many men for non-violent crimes? Some need medical help for drug additions. Why US have more prisoners then any nation in the world? It appears that this "correction" system creates more violence in our country. No one gets "corrected"... There is no recovery model... There is simply no other way to survive but to return to prison. It would be great improvement in our society and minimize the violence by developing alternative solutions for non-violent crimes.

great work! I'll share it

Great stuff. I know the girl Selina Roberts personally. She is doing well today, I talk to her daily. I work for the treatment center she was at called Amity.....I really respect Laura and the work she does, especially when it sheds light on a part of society that people try to ignore or just do not know about.

america needs to buid more prisons.
its the peoples fault for doing wrong, they should be punished. laws are made to keep our environment safe

awesome video,

amazing piece!

It's hard to say but the U.S. has a bad level of education and where you have bad education, you have less people working in any field of work, but the psychology of society is complicated.You have the good and the bad.

Having a father who was in prison for 17 years and just got released this year I can relate to a couple of the people in this pod, it's not easy and the family goes through a lost of pain having to be separated from the loved one but it's possible like Cyrus4566 says. It's about really wanting to be better and progress in life. Where there's a will there's a way.

Very well put... I feel you... we must do our utmost to keep our chins up and hold our heads high, especially in the face of adversity...

another great piece.
great work

wahhhhhh!!! im a con who is homeless and been in jail 10 times!!! feel sorry for me! :(

i understand what it is like to be an ex-inmate and come back into the free world and not being able to do things the legal way. i believe the system is set up for these boys to go back. there needs to be more outlets for support and for these inmates to be able to find legal work to help themselves. true, some of these guys have brought these things on themselves however those that are genuine in getting better and being better should not be judged and given a chance because you could be the next one locked up or someone you love before you decide to do something about a failing system.

Another compelling Vanguard piece.
I learned more in this 49 minutes than two hours worth of MSNBC's "Lockdown". The difference, in my mind, being that they exploit the prisoners for the sake of exciting television. The viewer is given the, "oohs and ahs", without substance or sense of purpose.
Excellent camera work by Mitch (I'll assume) while in the "slammer" and everyone else throughout the mega-pod.
The post-production editing and mixing was superb.
My heart goes out to Justin who is fighting to stay out but, apparently, hanging by a thread in his choices.
With each application demanding that a person state whether or not they are a convicted felon, the job situation is almost impossible to overcome. Even if the person gets the job, there will always be someone thinking the worst of them. As one woman interviewed pointed out, it's not what they did so much as where they've been.
I'm glad there was ample time given to 12 step programs and other rehabilitative services.
Thanks, once more, to the staff and crew of Vanguard for such an amazing slice of journalism.

Is it right for employers to find out if you were behind bars before?

It seems like a straightforward answer, yes, but is it? As far as I know, companies have a hard time directly asking you for your date of birth, race, etc.. How can they have these kind of records? When they release these prisoners, aren't they considered re institutionalized? AKA: back to "normal".

If they consider them well behaved enough to be released back into society at any level, then they should have a certain amount of trust to not allow any employer his jail-time info. From what I understand, that seems to be a huge reason a lot of these convicted felons go back to prison. They are trapped in an undertow, unable to advance on in life and get a "sustainable," job.

Maybe not altogether make that private information, but from what I understand, employers can't find out EXACTLY what that person was doing time for; and of course, people always assume the worst.

This is a very important piece, Laura. I commend you on your effort to bring this to light. I also commend those who clamp down and make the decision to get their lives together and stay out of jail. Cyrus, I congratulate you... a strong will goes a long way, especially when you're convinced that you're down on your luck...

There are a lot of good comments here as well... keith, it's wonderful that you are saving your wife's grandson from the streets. I've had several employees over the years that have quit the game and got their lives back on track, because they saw the endless path of destruction that lay before them and chose a better path instead...

The statistics regarding the prison system in America are mind boggling. It would seem more appropriate to have more vo-tech, art and educatonal programs to lift the downtrodden up from the lowest depths...help them to believe in themselves...thereby breaking the vicious cycle of corruption and violence...

White collar crime is another beast all its own...

...Prisons are big business and one of the largest employers in Texas...are there people that need to be kept away from others..yes...are there many that deserve to be given a chance to experience life as most of us have known it...again yes...it basically comes down to how lucky you have been....whether you were around people that care for you and for all things....it is luck because the choice is not made by you..it is completely out of your hands...everyone has a choice concerning what kind of person they want to be...but if you did not have great parents that shielded you from many of the worlds fears and dangers...then you came to the plate with two strikes against you....Kindness and Love are contagious..there are just so many that have never had their share of either...Golden Ruler...Will

Was in prison for 7 years, been on parole for 3. 2 more years to go but not a single problem so far. Staying out of prison isn't hard:

1. Get a job, any job.
2. Stay off drugs.
3. Pay your fees. $18.00 a month (in Texas) will never make or break you.
4. Don't commit any more crimes.

Problem solved.

Laura, that was an amazing piece. My only complaint is that I wanted to watch more. I would really love to see a follow-up on Justin, Selina, and especially Lucio (he seemed like such a good guy for having spent 11 years in jail for murder). I also would've loved to know the percentage of inmates that are incarcerated in our overcrowded prisons for non-violent drug-related charges. To Laura and everyone responsible for the making of this piece, thank you so much for all the time and effort you put into it, it really turned out great.

Another strong and thoughtful provoking topic. Two million inmates is a figure that is hard to grasp and probably involves an equal number in the policing of the prisoners, guards, probation officers,police officers,the court system to mention but a few.

This maybe is one of the reasons to re-circuate the prison population and keep more people employed. I am sure thousands of the prisoners commit the most minor of offences that have them sent back to prison and they never have a good opportunity to go "straight"as it were.

Laura Ling is up against an institution that is blinkered in its outlook and it finds no reason to assist prisoners as they are the ones who keep the system operating. Some of the guys interviewed appear to be resigned to the fact that there is very little hope for them I assume this to be prevalent in the prison system and is truly sad

I cannot suggest anything to help as the problem is so vast with the numbers involved.

I need to come back to this film because I am on a very slow connection in a foreign country right now. Thanks Keith for sending me this one. I will book mark and come back later.

Hey Lucien BTW guess what.....I am in Ecuador in Quito. We are going to Ibarra tomorrow and next week we will be going to Ambato, Riobamba, Guaranda, Banos, and Puli.

Isn't that exciting?

I will be posting videos and pics of my trip when I get back. I got some great footage at the bullfights and the protests outside. Could make an interesting pod.

How you been brother?

Great piece Laura.

Unfortunately however, it leaves out the biggest criminal that the planet has ever seen. THE WHITE COLLAR CRIMINAL. Americas problem is that the petty thief is the mindset of what a criminal is. True, they are criminals, but there is a bigger problem. You see them on the streets everyday, but you dont notice them because, for the most part, they are not the minorities that you see in this documentary.Most crooks dont finish high school. The ones that do, and go on to college, are the real problems. They are the smart crooks. They're the ones that have stole this country blind. They didnt use small guns. They start wars and destroy small countries with big guns.They do it with their degrees, titles,influence,briefcases and pens.

How many petty thieves come from loving, drug and alcohol free. two parent homes ? Poverty breeds crime. It always has, and it always will.Pyschologist say that, If you dont reach a child by the time that he is 4, you stand a great chance of losing him or her.My wife and myself keep her grandson. He is 10 years old now.We've had him since he was 5 hers old. His Father is a sorry piece of shit, and his Mother is finally getting her life together, and she works all of the time. My wife helps him with his homework every night, and on the weekends, I take him with me everywhere I go. We spend friday nights at Borders. I will be damned if we loose him to the streets.

If you dont show your children love, somebody else will. Thats a fact. This film is a wake-up call and it does serve a purpose. I hope, however, that it does not embed this image into your mindset as to who the real criminals are.

The government needs to get more involve on Rehabilitation Programs to stop the cycle, instead on building more and more prisons.

If they were law abiding citizens they would not have to face this problem at all. No pity for convicted felons.

Laura, you are an incredibly gifted reporter.
Incredible work, really.

i thought it was very real and informing about how the people in and out of prison think, and the neighborhoods they live in

Pure journalistic excellence... I would liked to see where these blokes are in six months.

It's a very moving idea, though I don't think it transfers to the UK. It is a lot easier to get back on the right track after custody here. You've just got to want it enough.

great film

It is sad that these guys who get out of prison and fall out of contact with laura ling. the important thing I think people need to see is that life is boring, life is hard, but I hope these people find some loving support so they don't go back to their old lifestyle.

Powerful video, i hope someone would help my nephew get out of prison insouth carolina, he has been in prison since he was 13 years old, 1994

Very powerful piece! Once you go into the system it is extremely difficult to get back out. I found myself rooting for each person to succeed then saddened by the ones who succumbed to the boredom they all experienced after their release. I know most were there by their own hand but my heart still goes out to each and everyone!

i will wait and watch this with everybody else :D