Room for Rent

In December 2005, at the age of 22, I agreed to 7-years deferred adjudication in lieu of facing a prison sentence. Naively, I thought I dodged the bullet and assumed probation was nothing more than a monthly urinary analysis. I…

Read More

Mandatory Sentencing: The False Masked Scare Tactic

In 1984 the Sentencing Reform Act was passed into legislation introducing mandatory sentencing to the criminal justice system. Essentially this means that a committee got together and discussed different crime violations and decided on a non-negotiable amount of time an…

Read More

Bearing the Barriers

The justice system, specifically the housing system, of America can make life much more difficult for someone with a criminal record. For example, though millions of people are released from jails and prisons combined every year in America, many of…

Read More

TRAP DOOR

Probation and Parole is often described as a trap, one foot in the door (prison) one foot out. For many offenders who can’t afford adequate counsel, probation can seem like a saving grace a second chance, a way to avoid…

Read More

Locked Out: Housing Ban for the Formerly Incarcerated

Having a criminal record comes with a price even after one has served his or her time. Criminal records have long-lasting effects on individuals even after their probation or parole term has expired. Being labeled a “criminal” with a criminal…

Read More

THE UNITED STATES HAS AN ADDICTION: IT’S PUNISHMENT

History students across the country grow up learning that the United States of America is “the land of the free” but what they aren’t being taught is that the US is also the land of the harshly punished and overly…

Read More

Balanced Owed

Once a person completes a court order probation, serves a prison sentence day-for day or time served in conjunction with a period of time spent on parole, the truth of the situation is the court order punishment has ended. The…

Read More

LWOP: The Ultimate Power Trip

Please join me in a fictitious tale based on unfortunate real life events. Times have always been hard for Marquan, a Shreveport native, for as far back as he could remember. He never had money for lunch let alone fifty…

Read More

HONORING THE PAST, FIGHTING INJUSTICE FOR THE FUTURE

March to commemorate the Texas Southern University 1960 Student Sit-ins Check out the interview given by Pure Justice Executive Director on KPRC regarding this event here!

Read More

POLICING WHILE BLACK – PODCAST REPLAY

Watch Here!

Read More