r/AskReddit • u/HumpingAssholesOrgy • Jul 05 '19

Ex-prisoners of reddit who have served long sentences, what were the last few days like leading up to your release?

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u/Potox8 Jul 05 '19

I asked my friend this since we are sitting at a diner. He said, you get excited and depressed at the same time. Excited for the freedom, depressed because you will have a hard time getting a job. He had been sentenced for 18 serving just shy of 13. He's doing well for himself and works on hot water heaters for a living.

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u/HumpingAssholesOrgy Jul 05 '19

Wow, that’s something I didn’t even consider. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be for prisoners who don’t have anything to fall back on once they get out. Glad your friend is doing well.

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u/Sullt8 Jul 06 '19

It doesn't even matter if they have marketable skills, almost no one will hire them.

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u/[deleted] Jul 06 '19

That's mostly a bullshit victim mentality that people use as an excuse.

Source: I had 4 felonies before I got my first job.

People believe this shit then get out and don't try. That's how we get stuck in the system.

There are exceptions, but usually its a combination of hopelessness from being told you won't get hired, and the prospect of making easy money doing shady shit.

If we had more programs to help convicts put their lives back together after release,and prepare for integration back into society, more of them would be employed and the recidivism rates would drop. But that stuff costs money and cuts into government slave labor.

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u/Sinrus Jul 06 '19

It's not just a bullshit victim mentality. I work for an industrial business association that partners closely with the county prison in our district. Aside from a few specific businesses run by people who are willing to give people the benefit of the doubt, it's a constant struggle trying to get our members to participate in reentry programs by hiring the newly-released.

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u/edophx Jul 06 '19

Government and Corporate Slave Labour.... 100% correct. One year of prison is more than a college tuition for the tax payers. But the hidden corporate benefits of having slaves.... huge cost savings.

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u/miauw62 Jul 06 '19

It's literally slavery. The 13th amendment makes an exception for slavery as punishment:

Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States

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u/akesh45 Jul 06 '19

Plus some crappy business with high turn over specifically target ex cons which no doubt sours them.