Parole Packets

HOW TO WRITE

Parole Packets

Jorge Antonio Renaud

How to Write Parole Packets by Jorge Antonio Renaud

is made available free of charge by:

Texas Criminal Jusce Coalion

1714 Fortview Road, Suite 104

Ausn, Texas 78704

(512) 441-8123

www.TexasCJC.org

www.facebook.com/TexasCJC

www.twier.com/TexasCJC

This guide is intended as a free resource only and it should not be sold or

distributed for prot. The contents of this document should not be construed as

legal advice; TCJC is not liable for any changes or errors contained herein.

The Texas Criminal Jusce Coalion (TCJC) advances soluons that transform

the adult and youth jusce systems to strengthen families and foster safer

communies. TCJC works with policy-makers, praconers, and community

members to safely reduce Texas’ costly over-reliance on incarceraon. TCJC sta

cannot provide any legal advice or administrave assistance in individual cases.

Jorge Antonio Renaud spent 26 years in Texas prisons.

He is a former copy editor and reporter for various

Texas dailies and was assistant editor of The ECHO from 1999-2001.

He is the author of

“Behind the Walls: A Guide for the Families and Friends of Texas Prison Inmates.”

Jorge has a BS in Psychology and a Master of Science in Social Work

from the University of Texas.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introducon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Who is Eligible for Parole? .................................................................4

Introductory Leer to the Parole Board Asking for Parole .......................................6

Parole Plan..............................................................................9

Criminal History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Disciplinary History......................................................................11

Educaonal History......................................................................12

Employment History.....................................................................14

Substance Abuse History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Spiritual Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Goal Statements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19

Penance Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

Support Leers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22

Cercates and Awards ..................................................................25

Presentaon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26

This guide is instruconal.

Nothing in this guide is to be construed as legal advice.

Parole is not guaranteed.

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INTRODUCTION

Why this guide? Why me?

Those two quesons may be churning around in your head right now. You are in prison and you are eligible

for parole. Either this is your rst me up and you want to do everything possible to convince the Board

of Pardons and Paroles (BPP) to grant you your freedom, or you’ve received set-os and don’t think you

did enough the last me and want to do more. You want to put together a parole packet, and you’re not

sure how to go about it, or you’re not sased with the one you’ve put together before and submied to

the Board.

A parole packet is not necessary for you to make parole. The Board doesn’t require one. (More about

requirements in the next secon.) In fact, the Board doesn’t require that you do anything, other than

serve a certain length of me and be in a certain good-me earning category, before it considers you for

parole. You don’t have to submit anything – no support leers, no cercates, no introductory leers to

the Board, and no explanaons of your history or employment or educaon.

The Board can and will make its decision with or without your input. However, the Board is comprised of

cizens of Texas, and those cizens would sure like for you to take an acve part in the process. Aer all,

they are considering whether or not they should let you go out into society and be their neighbors. Out

there, people take an acve hand in day-to-day decisions that aect their lives and futures. So if you truly

want to do everything you can to give the Board a reason to let you go, then you should prepare a parole

packet.

The average inmate probably doesn’t understand what should go into a parole packet, and his family sure

doesn’t know. Many inmates think that they should ood the Board with leers and have their family call

every day to show their support. Neither of these things is true or even desirable. Many inmates think they

should ask their families to hire a parole lawyer, for various reasons, the primary one being the inmate’s

reluctance when confronted with this type of project. What goes through your mind is, “You mean I

actually have to write leers and compile copies of my cercates and write down my educaonal and

employment and criminal histories, and maybe borrow a typewriter and work on this unl it looks good

and then spend stamps to mail it to the Board? Why can’t I just have my family pay an aorney to do it?”

You can, and many families do just that. But I argue against that for a number of reasons. First, I cannot

help but believe that the Board members look more favorably on a packet that is obviously prepared by an

inmate. They expect iniave from you. They expect concern for your family’s nances and a willingness to

take part in your own life. And if they receive a slick packet that is signed by an aorney’s secretary and has

the return address and phone number of an aorney, it is obvious that YOU, the inmate they are deciding

to keep in prison or release onto the streets, had lile to do with the compilaon of the informaon; that

YOU didn’t take the me to put this together; that YOU preferred to have your family pay for an aorney

rather than do this yourself, the person asking to be released from prison.

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Second, aorneys cost money. I don’t know about you, but my family couldn’t send me $30 a month when

I was in, much less aord the minimum of $1,500 the average parole aorney charges to prepare a packet

and TRY to get in to see a Board member before their votes are cast.

Third, the aorney only knows what you tell him. No one knows your history and accomplishments and

goals and remorse like you. Just like you are capable of wring a leer to the aorney and brieng him

about your history, you are capable of wring these things down and creang your own parole packet,

with the help of your family.

Fourth, there is no actual evidence that hiring an aorney in any way increases your chances of making

parole. Aorneys choose their clients, and they only choose those inmates who they think already have

a chance of making parole. But if your loved ones DO hire an aorney, there are a couple of things to

consider:

 The Board is NOT required to actually give an interview to anyone other than the vicm(s) of the

crime you were convicted of. That means they don’t have to give you an interview, nor your family,

nor any aorney. Many Board members have established relaonship with certain aorneys and

will either accept telephone calls or schedule visits with them. But they aren’t required to, so be

wary of an aorney who guarantees he or she will speak to the members of the Board. There is

no such guarantee.

 Some aorneys say they will present your case to the “Board panel.” There is no Board panel. The

way they work is that the lead voter looks at your packet/prison and legal history and votes, then

sends it to the second voter. If both agree on an outcome, that is the end of the process. If they

disagree, it goes to the third voter. But the members do NOT meet to discuss your or anyone’s

case; thus, there is no “panel” for anyone to appear before. Be wary of an aorney who says he

or she will present to a “panel.”

The only inmates I think should hire parole aorneys are those inmates who have found there are severe

factual errors in their prison jackets. By this, I mean that they have been accused of being gang members

when they aren’t; there is a charge or convicon on their jacket that was not put there by the court and

is there in error; or they have found that there is something factually wrong somewhere in their prison

jacket that may in fact sway the Board members to vote against their release. In these types of instances,

an aorney can invesgate and explain to the Board, if he is allowed to see them, that these errors are

just that.

So now you’ve decided to compile a parole packet. Why should you read this guide, or any other book

about parole, and listen to what I have to say?

Well, in contrast to most people who oer advice on how to write parole packets or oer to actually

construct one for inmates – usually aorneys – I am living proof that I’m know what I’m talking about in

this area. I was in prison three mes, each me for robbery. I discharged a ve-year sentence, returned

and made parole on a 28-year sentence, and then I returned and made parole on a 60-year sentence for

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aggravated robbery aer serving 17 years. An independent observer, looking at my history, would have

been correct in thinking that I would have done quite a bit more me than I actually did, maybe 25 years

on the 60, before making parole. I was required to serve 15 years at. I did, and I took quite a bit of me

preparing my packet before my rst eligibility date. The Board gave me a one-year set-o. My second me

eligible I was released. I am not under special restricons other than reporng to my ocer once a month

and aending AA meengs weekly. So I must know something about packets.

You may think I had somebody special talk to the Board and that is why I was released. You may think that

I had an “in,” and that I am somehow special, to have been in three mes for robbery and make parole

so quickly. I don’t think that is true. Yes, I received a BS in Psychology while I was there. I completed

one vocaonal course. But, on the negave side of the ledger, I received my share of disciplinary cases,

spent me in Line Class III, and I worked for eight years in the elds. I was a hard head for a good many

years, always angry at the ocers, always looking for reasons to blame someone other than myself for my

situaon. I was a typical convict.

I nally took a long, hard look at myself and realized something: I wanted to have my family, my friends,

and mostly myself, see me as an honorable man. I changed the way I lived, not to make parole, but because

that was the way I wanted to live, whether in prison or out in the free world. I took responsibility for my

acons, and I took control of the few things I could in fact control. And one of them was to prepare a parole

packet, highlighng what was good, adming what was bad, and I was careful to place everything in it

in the perspecve that I felt the Board needed in order to see me the way I was NOW, not the way I was

THEN.

I am a writer by trade. While in prison, I wrote a book tled “Behind the Walls: A Guide for the Families and

Friends of Texas Prison Inmates.” I wrote arcles and essays and poetry. I was editor of The Echo from 1999

to 2001. I have been a journalist in the free world. So I know something about how to present myself and

my situaon in the best light. I took advantage of what was posive in my life.

And so can you. I can help you take your history and your situaon and show you how to put those things

in the best posive light, one that will make the BPP see you as you are now. You can make parole. But

even if you don’t, you can know in your heart that you did everything in your power to be free, and if that

does nothing else, it makes you a beer person, one your family will see in a dierent light, and it will let

you live your life in a more dignied, responsible fashion.

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WHO IS ELIGIBLE FOR PAROLE?

There are only two actual requirements the Parole Board deems necessary of any inmate before he is

considered for release on parole.

First, you must have reached your eligibility date. Your eligibility is set by the elements of your convicon

and whatever legislave statutes govern your convicon. In other words, you have done whatever me

is necessary to be considered eligible by the Texas Legislature. The amount of me an inmate must do

varies enormously. If you are doing me for an aggravated oense, or a 3G oense, you must be in prison

a certain amount of me before you are eligible for parole and reviewed for release. This amount will be

set, and you will know it when you are convicted. That length of me can be a at percentage of your

sentence – a third, fourth, or a half – or a certain amount of years, in some cases up to 40 years. There is

nothing you can do to alter that date. You cannot accumulate good me and bring it closer, and if you lose

good me your eligibility date is not aected.

If you are not serving me for an aggravated oense, then parole eligibility will be calculated by the Board, and

your eligibility will depend on how much good me you draw. Inmates in this category can in fact bring their

review date closer or move it farther away, if you lose good me and lower your good-me earning status.

If you are reading this and preparing for parole, then you have either done the me necessary or are close

enough to begin preparing to see the parole representave.

The second requirement the Board demands is that you be in AT LEAST the good-me earning category

you were in when you rst came to the Texas Department of Criminal Jusce (TDCJ). Depending on when

you were convicted, this means you must be either State Approved Trusty IV or Line Class I.

That’s all. Do enough me and be either SAT IV or Line Class I and the Board will consider you for release.

You don’t have to nofy the Board or write a peon or have your family call. But now that you are eligible

for parole, what should you do in order to have the best chance?

Quit receiving major disciplinary cases. Of all the things you can do, even including wring and subming

a parole packet, that is number one. I realize that the system and its ocers will look for reasons to write

you up. But I also believe that the great majority of cases are wrien on inmates who simply won’t shut up

when some annoyed ocer tells them to, or when an inmate decides to get loud because his home boys

are watching and he wants them to think he’s a hard case, or simply because an inmate is having a hard

day and doesn’t want to be bothered by an ocer with a chip on his or her shoulder.

That’s understandable. But the fact is that the ocer goes home, and the inmate has to see the counsel

substute, then the lieutenant or captain, and then go before the Disciplinary Commiee, and you know

how that ends. This is not the place to go o on the Commiee. The simple truth is that inmates too oen

put themselves before that parcular steamroller by their acons. So don’t. Think about your freedom and

your family and your dignity before you open your mouth or decide to sell cigarees or decide to fall onto

that other block to see your homeboy. It isn’t worth it.

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Geng ready for parole should start much earlier than your rst eligibility date. I believe that readying

yourself to be free and becoming free and staying free entail a certain point of view, a way of looking at life

that perhaps you haven’t considered. My philosophy will run through everything I say in this guide, and

that philosophy is that you must change in prison, and you must change NOT because you want to make

parole and NOT because you’ve seen what being in prison does to your family, but because it is the right

thing to do. If you change for that reason, that change will permeate your life. That change will be obvious

to everyone, especially to the Board. It will make the Board much more willing to let you go home. And it

will make you much more likely to stay out and become one of the formerly incarcerated individuals who

doesn’t return to prison.

I’m going to write about the following areas. I recommend your parole packet address each one of these

areas.

1. Introductory leer to the Parole Board asking for parole.

2. Parole plan

3. Criminal history.

4. Disciplinary history.

5. Educaonal history.

6. Employment history.

7. Substance Abuse history.

8. Spiritual development.

9. Goal statements.

10. Penance statement.

11. Support leers.

12. Awards and Cercates

13. Presentaon

(If you are unsure, the BPP has on its website a publicaon called, “Parole in Texas.” It is available at hp://

tdcj.state.tx.us/bpp/publicaons/PIT_eng.pdf. It has a chart that will clearly state when each incarcerated

individual can expect to reach his or her rst eligibility date depending on the date of convicon and crime.)

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INTRODUCTORY LETTER TO THE

PAROLE BOARD ASKING FOR PAROLE

Your parole packet should introduce you to the Board. Although they know OF you, they don’t KNOW you.

The Board has your history, and much of that is negave. It consists of your criminal and in-prison history,

along with various cercates and educaonal achievements that are included in your jacket.

What their history doesn’t include is anything about your living situaon when you commied your crime,

the fact that you were keeping up payments on your car and apartment before you got into that ght. It

doesn’t include anything about the fact that you were raised by your grandmother, or that you were an

honor student in high school; that you began running around with a gang when your older brother died

and you lost direcon and became angry at the world and used poor judgment. You need to tell the Board

who you are, how you got to where you are now, and why you should be freed.

And I mean specically why you should be freed. Your leer needs to say that. “I am asking the Board to

grant me parole and to allow me to return to my family.” Of course, if your family is scaered and broken;

if your family is dysfunconal and alcoholic and drug-ridden, then this is the place to say that. If that is the

case, you should say that even though you love your family, you don’t think that their home or apartment

is the place for you to be, not unl you are independent and ready to be around them. Again, this is the

place to say that.

None of this is to say you should make excuses for your situaon. In all instances, you need to say:

“I accept full responsibility for my acons. I realize that society places certain pressures on

people, but I also realize that we have the ability to make choices. I made poor choices,

again and again. But just as I made poor choices then, since I’ve been incarcerated I’ve

made beer, more posive choices, as my parole packet will show.”

You need to address your crime of convicon. If you are there for a series of crimes, you need to explain

your state of mind. This doesn’t need to be wordy. But you should say something along the lines of:

“I realize that selling drugs is illegal and that drugs destroy lives and families. But at the

me I was in love with material things and I did not have the paence to get a low-paying

job, to save money to buy the things I wanted. Not only that; I believed that new clothes

and a fancy car made me a dierent person than I was, somehow more aracve. Now I

realize that if I needed things to impress people, I didn’t need those people around me.

Good friends won’t care if I buy clothes at Goodwill or if I take the bus to work, but I didn’t

truly believe that then. Once I began selling drugs [or burglarizing or robbing] I began not

to see my vicms as people. And I am ashamed of that.”

You need to say that last sentence, in some fashion or another: You must express remorse. Neither I nor

the Board knows if you truly feel remorse. I would hope that if you have truly examined your life and

acons, you in fact feel remorse for your vicms, for your family, and for everyone who was in your life

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and hurt by your acons. Saying you are sorry and that you regret your acons is one thing and likely

necessary for the Board to seriously consider releasing you, but actually feeling remorse is crucial to your

development as a person, and it is crucial to your staying out of prison.

The introductory leer should not be longer than a page and a half. You begin by introducing yourself.

Say who you are, what you’re there for, and ask for parole. Then include a few paragraphs describing your

state of mind when you commied your crime(s) and why, if in the same situaon, you won’t do those

same things. Describe what the prison experience has done to you, how it has made you more paent,

more willing to let go of things you can’t control. Allude a lile to your educaon while in prison. Write a

sentence or two about how you’ve learned paence.

If you have children, talk about what this has done to them. Don’t be too senmental, but be honest. If

your daughter or son has cried while vising, say that. If your mother or father has died, say that, and

tell the Board how that has le you in tears and how ashamed you were at not being able to go to their

funerals.

You should include the name, telephone number, and address of two people to whom you plan on paroling.

You will include more detailed informaon about this in the next secon, but here you want to say:

“I plan on paroling to my mother. She lives at 884 North Main in Dallas, Texas. Her number

is 555 555-5555. My brother has also indicated that he wishes I live with him, so if the

Board would rather I parole to him, he lives at 976 Gurney Avenue in Ft. Worth, Texas. His

number is 555 555-5555.”

If you don’t have a place to parole to, then you should say that here and ask that the Board try to nd you

a halfway house. However, you should already be trying to do that on your own, and you should say in this

leer that you have wrien to halfway houses and are trying to secure a place to stay.

The introductory leer is your one chance to really speak to the Board. Don’t be afraid to be real, to be

honest, and to be a lile emoonal.

What if you’re innocent? What if you’re not guilty of what you’ve been convicted of? What should you say?

Should you express remorse for something you have claimed from Day One that you didn’t do?

That’s a hard queson. The Board members will assume that you are guilty. That’s just a fact. If you’ve

claimed innocence, then it is likely your record will show that. You will have led appeals, which sll may

be pending. You may have become involved with one of the various Innocence Projects, and they may be

in the process of trying to get you a new trial.

I think that if you are innocent and have claimed so from the beginning, you should connue to do so. But

there are two types of innocent people in prison. The rst is one who was totally innocent of the crime

he was convicted, and whose record shows that he or she pled not guilty and has claimed innocence

throughout their sentence. The second is one who has been involved in criminal acvity but did not

commit the parcular crime he was convicted of. They require dierent approaches.

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If you belong in the rst category, respecully say that you are innocent. Say that you understand that

people make mistakes; that vicms are oen so distraught and traumazed that they don’t remember

events well, and that you understand how you came to be in prison. But insist that you are innocent;

that you have always maintained your innocence; and that you will connue to pursue every avenue to

prove your innocence. Tell the Board that while you are deeply sorry for whatever befell the vicm, you

had nothing to do with that crime, and that you hope the Board will understand how you cannot express

remorse for something you did not do.

If you belong in the second category, what you say will be a lile dierent. Again, maintain that your

convicon is wrong; that you have always claimed innocence and that you will pursue all avenues to prove

that. But in this instance, you must say that you understand that you put yourself in this posion by making

wrong choices. If someone with you shot or hurt or killed someone while you were with them at a party

or during a robbery, you need to say that you understand and accept that your bad choices put you in the

posion of being blamed for the crime of someone else. Admit that you made terrible choices, but that

you should not be punished for making bad choices, especially when you did not commit the crime. You

should express regret for your choices and for the vicm’s pain and trauma. But again, explain that you

can’t express remorse for something that you did not do.

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PAROLE PLAN

In this secon, you should list the people you are planning to parole to along with the people who are

oering you employment. Provide their names, addresses, and telephone numbers. I recommend wring a

lile more than just that informaon. Also include a sentence describing the situaon. For example:

“I plan on paroling to my mother, Mrs. Angelina Brown, who lives at 876 Richland Drive in

Dallas, Texas, 87878. Her home telephone number is 555 555-5555. She works at Richland

Nursing Home as a registered nurse and her work number is 555 555-5555. My mother

owns her own three-bedroom home, and it is in a quiet residenal neighborhood in North

Dallas. My sister, Jennee, who is 25 and a college student, also lives with my mother.”

You should detail this informaon about everyone on this list. You should try to have at least two people to

parole to. If you are going to a halfway house, try to provide similar informaon: the type of residence, what

the rules will be, how long you plan on staying, and how you plan on geng around.

If you have oers of employment, then you should provide the names of those people also and give some details:

“I will be working for Joe Bond Construcon. The rm is located at 980 Main Street in

Rutherford, Texas, 88765. Mr. Bond can be reached at 555 555-5555. His rm has provided

construcon services for Rutherford and the surrounding area for over 20 years. I will be a

journeyman carpenter, and I begin work the rst Monday aer I am paroled.”

Try to have as much informaon for the Board, because if you provide it for them it shows that you are

serious about your parole; that you have already secured a place to stay and employment, and that these

people are willing to be contacted by the Board.

"2008-07-15 Construcon on Erwin Rd in Durham" by Ildar Sagdejev . Licensed under GFDL via Wikimedia Commons.

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CRIMINAL HISTORY

This is prey straighorward. The Board has a record of your criminal history, at the very least a record

of your convicons. You need to address them: What you did, if anyone was hurt, your state of mind, and

the outcome of the case. I don’t recommend going too deep into parculars. But you need to say, “On

January 12, 1999, I was convicted of armed robbery. I was on drugs and not working. I used a pellet gun

because I could not get a real gun. I was arrested on December 9 of 1998, pled guilty and received a 10-

year sentence.”

If you are convicted of a violent crime where someone was hurt, you need to say something about the

crime more than what I’ve just described. You need to express remorse for your acons. The same goes for

a convicon of a sexual oense. If you are receiving treatment, stress that, and sat that you will connue

to seek treatment aer you are released.

How much or how lile you say is up to you. You expressed remorse for your acons in the introductory

leer. You should repeat that here, to a lesser extent, but in a more parcular way, tailored to each

convicon. That can sound dumb and repeous. But you should at least say a sentence or two about

each crime and say you are sorry to each parcular vicm.

There are two gray areas here: Juvenile records and non-convicons. The records of juveniles are sealed.

However, there is a good possibility that the Board has records of any convicon, whether or not you were

a juvenile. I would address all convicons.

Now, let’s say you commied a series of crimes but only were convicted of one or two. For example, you

were arrested, and in a plea bargain agreement, you confessed to nine burglaries but were only convicted

of one or two. Do you say in the leer, “I commied nine burglaries” or do you just address the robbery

you were convicted for?

This is a dicult topic, but I don’t think you should menon every crime you commied, only the

convicons. If you are interviewed and asked about the other crimes you confessed to, tell the truth:

That you believed you were only to address the convicons. But the odds are that the Board doesn’t have

copies of what a local police department would: every confession and cleared case. The Board certainly

has copies of all your convicons. Speak about those.

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DISCIPLINARY HISTORY

This is similar to the above secon. The Board has a record of your disciplinary history. The vong members

who read your jacket will want to know why you have ve major cases for contraband, or why you have

two Code 20s for exposing yourself to the ocers, or why you have a couple of ghng with or without a

weapon.

What can you say about these? That you were dumb and weren’t thinking? That’s prey well the truth,

and I tend to believe that the truth is always the best way to go. But the packet is the place you put a

posive spin on everything, so is there a way of pung a posive spin on this type of disciplinary history?

Not really, but the way you address this type of history is by adming to it and expressing thoughul

remorse. So, you may say, “When I received these cases, I was not thinking about what my acons

would have on others. I was being selsh and wanted physical relief,” if the cases are Code 20s. If they’re

contraband, you can say, “I have had a dicult me quing smoking, and I understand that smoking is

against the rules and that now is the opportunity I’ve been given to stop.” If the cases are for ghng,

you can say, “I was frightened, and I believed that I had to defend myself. I only did what was absolutely

necessary in the situaon.”

You should also say, regardless of the situaon, that you accepted the punishment, whatever it was, as

just; that you did your me in solitary or on recreaon and commissary restricon without complaining.

And if you have any signicant me without cases, stress that:

“Since those cases, I’ve given a lot of thought to my situaon and to the way my acons

might have a negave impact on my life. I have stopped [ll in the blank] and I have stayed

away from people and situaons that may place myself and my future in jeopardy.”

Don’t worry about the minor cases. Just address the major ones. And if you don’t have any, or if you

haven’t had any in a long me, stress that. I think if there’s ve or so years since you’ve had a case, all

you should say is “I received [X number of cases] before I realized that acng that way would only have

negave consequences. I have had [X number of years] without a case, and I think that demonstrates my

determinaon to obey the rules of prison, and to obey the laws of society when I’m released.”

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EDUCATIONAL HISTORY

This is one place you can shine. No maer what your educaonal aainment, whether or not you’ve

received a GED, a bachelor’s degree or a master’s degree while in prison, there are things you can say here

that will show the Board that you understand the importance of educaon.

The TDCJ oers many educaonal opportunies. Most of them are geared toward awarding you with a

cercate or a degree. You should spotlight anything you’ve done in prison for which you were recognized.

You should begin by referring to your free-world educaonal history. If you nished high school or went

to college before coming to prison, say that. Relate dates and places. Say what it was about high school

history or geography that fascinated you. Did you win spelling bees? Say so. Did you write an award-

winning essay that was published in the newspaper? Say so.

Then refer to your in-prison educaon. Write a few lines about every degree or cercate you received.

If you nished a vocaonal course, say what it was in, when you received it, and give a few details. For

example:

“I received a Cercate in Horculture in May of 1999. This required that I complete 1,500

hours of classroom training, including 500 hours of actual laboratory. During the course,

I was expected to read nine books, and I learned about culvaon, seasonal growth

paerns, irrigaon, crop rotaon, and many other topics that will prepare me for a job or

a career in landscaping or horculture.”

You should do this for every vocaonal course you took, even if you didn’t nish.

Many inmates complete religious study courses. You will menon this in the Spiritual Growth secon, but

you should menon and describe the actual courses here, giving details of what they required. If nishing

the required courses meant you had to read a Biblical chapter each week and write an essay on it and

answer quesons, say that, and give a reference to what you learned:

“I learned from Job how paence and faith are important parts of a God-fearing life, and reading about

the tribulaons of Job and then wring an essay on him made me realize that everything I go through will

benet me, if I learn something from it.”

This way, not only are you demonstrang to the Board that you’re taking Bible courses; you’re also showing

o your wring skills.

If you received a college degree, you should play that up. Refer to how much those courses meant to

you; how they increased your awareness of your place in life and of your parcular culture; and how the

exchange of ideas made you realize what you are missing as a result of your convicon and incarceraon.

What if you haven’t nished any courses? You can sll talk about the books you’ve read and about the

television shows you’ve watched (or wanted to watch) and about how you never missed the news.

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You can say:

"While in prison, I have been unable to take college courses. However, I made a pracce of

going to the library and checking out dierent non-con books each week. I nished at

least one book every week, and I learned many things, from the eect the shrinking ozone

layer has on the atmosphere, to the history of the Iraqi people and why it was important

that Sadaam Hussein be removed as president. I plan on connuing my educaon when

I am released.”

This enre packet is designed to put you in the best possible light. You should take every opportunity to

do that. If you had a ght with someone because you wanted to watch “Nature” and he wanted to watch

“The Jerry Springer Show”, I think you should say that:

“I received a disciplinary case for ghng because I wanted to watch an educaonal

program and other inmates didn’t. I realize that was a dumb thing to do, but I felt at the

me that I was being deprived of an opportunity to learn. We have so few opportunies

that I just felt I needed to say or do something.”

This way, you not only deal with a disciplinary case, but you put it in the best possible light.

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EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

This category can be troublesome for many incarcerated individuals because a lot of them haven’t worked

much, at least not consistently. However, there are ways you can put a posive spin on this, especially by

highlighng what you’ve done in prison, even if it’s just been working in the elds.

You should begin by detailing the jobs you had in the free world, especially those in which you were asked

to assume responsibility. Let’s say you worked at Church’s Fried Chicken and you eventually worked your

way up to Crew Chief. Say when you worked there and detail your responsibilies:

“I worked at Church’s Fried Chicken in Tyler, Texas, from March 1996 to April 1999. I

began as a cook, and I worked the second shi, which usually had the heaviest ow of

customers. I unloaded trucks, unpackaged chicken, cut the chicken into eighths, mixed

baer, and dropped the chicken into the cooking vats, being careful to check temperatures

and cooking mes. I eventually worked my way to the cashier’s slot. I became Crew Chief,

and my dues included assigning jobs to my coworkers, counng the daily receipts, and

interacng with customers. I learned what it takes to work in a team atmosphere and how

to communicate eecvely with my coworkers and supervisors.”

With small changes, this is what you should say about any job you had. Even if all you did was cut the grass

for your neighbors, you can nd a way to write about the details and responsibilies of whatever job you had.

“I was unable to nd steady employment, so I went door-to-door, oering to do yard

work, and eventually I had about a dozen steady customers in my neighborhood. Each

customer had a dierent way of giving instrucons, and I learned to listen carefully and

to ask quesons to make sure I understood what they wanted. I learned the basics of

pruning owers, how to ll a garden, how to operate basic machinery, and other aspects

of landscaping and gardening. While I may not make a career of this, I think the discipline

it took to keep asking people if they wanted a yardman even aer being turned down

again and again will help me in the future.”

Obviously, your packet should emphasize jobs you had in the free world, especially those that were

supervisory in nature. But if you’ve been in prison a long me; if you’ve had prey good jobs in prison; or

if you didn’t work at all when you were out, then you should emphasize prison employment.

Your descripons of prison jobs should be similar to the descripons I listed above. Many incarcerated

individuals discount the importance of prison employment and don’t include that in their parole packets,

but the demands of prison jobs are similar to free-world jobs, and incarcerated individuals oen work

under restricons and with spulaons that most free-world employees can’t imagine. You can go on

lockdown and you fall behind on your dues and have to work that much harder to catch up. You don’t get

paid; you don’t get sick leave or vacaon me, so you have to nd some way of focusing your discipline

and movang yourself. The Board knows this and expects to know what you’ve done while you’ve been

in prison.

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Look for ways to highlight what your job(s) required. If you’ve been an SSI, point out how that posion

means you were reviewed by the Unit Classicaon Commiee and approved by the State Classicaon

Commiee, and how that means you’ve been granted a level of trust not given to all inmates. If you

worked in Food Service and were a cook, talk about the demands of cooking for thousands of people, and

how you’ve learned the basics of planning, preparing, and presenng food. If you worked in maintenance,

describe your dues. Regardless of your job, no maer how unimportant you may think it was and how

lile presge it carried in prison, it demanded that you show up, that you please your supervisor, that

you work with coworkers who were oen undisciplined, and it gave you the opportunity to grow as an

individual.

What if you haven’t had prison employment and spent all your me in the elds? You can put a posive

spin on that, too:

“I’ve always preferred to work outside. I feel that it is unhealthy to always be inside. While

the work in the elds is oen hard and dirty, that doesn’t bother me. I enjoy rising early

and being outside. It took a lot of discipline to work in the elds for years, but I’ve come

to enjoy it and learn from it. I’ve learned about crop rotaon, irrigaon, planng and

harvesng. I’m not a farmer, but I’m qualied now to work for a landscaping rm, and I

think I would enjoy that when I’m released.”

Will the Board truly believe this, even though

your disciplinary record shows that you had

major cases that likely kept you in the elds,

and that if you’d had the opportunity to

work as an Ocers’ Baker, you would have

jumped at it? Probably not, but they will

also realize that it took a bit of creavity

for you to prepare this packet, and they will

appreciate the fact that you at least tried

to present what is essenally a negave in

a posive light. They realize that you had to

think about these things and that thinking

about them is a rst step toward you thinking

about the other negave aspects of your life

and addressing them.

Look at your prison employment. Decide

how you can present everything in a posive

fashion, and you’ll see that every job you’ve

been assigned to had aspects you can

honestly claim made you a beer person.

Keep that in mind.

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SUBSTANCE ABUSE HISTORY

This doesn’t have to be too long and involved, but if you are convicted of drug possession or sales, or if

you admied to using drugs when you commied your crime, then you need to address those things here.

Why did you use drugs? Because all your friends were using them? Then say so, and say why you understand

that was and is wrong:

“I began smoking marijuana when I was 12 because my friends were smoking. I understand

how I just wanted to belong, how I wanted certain people to be my friends. But I remember

how most of the kids didn’t smoke, how the kids I made fun of – the nerds, the ones who

carried books home every day – are the ones living honest lives and taking care of their

children. Using drugs was wrong, and just as wrong was my desire to do dumb, illegal

things just so other people would like me.”

Why did you sell drugs? Because it was easy money. Admit to that, and say why you realize that was and

is wrong:

“I started selling drugs because the money was easy. I didn’t pay aenon to the eect

drugs had on people, how they stole money from their families to give to me. I just ignored

that, and I’m ashamed of it. I could have looked for a job, one that didn’t pay much but

that was legal and oered me a way to work my way up and live an honorable life, but I

took the easy way out.”

Did you steal in order to buy drugs because you were strung out? Admit to that, and say what you could

have dierently:

“I became addicted to [crack or cocaine or heroin]. There are places a person can go to for

help but I was ashamed of asking for help. I kept telling myself that this would be my last

hit, my last pipe, but of course by myself I didn’t have the strength to quit. I have learned

more about the eects of drugs on a person’s brain, and I know now that I needed help.

I also understand that the drugs made me temporarily insane, how using drugs changed

my values and allowed me to believe that robbery or burglary was not something that I

chose to do but was pushed into doing by drug use. I allowed my addicon to push me

into terrible choices, and I’m ashamed of that.”

The benet in saying these things is that they are true, and thinking like this will force you to confront the

choices you made. Just the act of wring about these things will change the way you think and the way

you act in the future.

You should be aending AA/NA in prison, and you should say that. Talk a bit about the concepts you’ve

learned by going to meengs. Explain to the Board that you plan to connue aending meengs in the

free world, and that you now understand that addicon is a disease, one that you will always have, and

one that you will always need help to face and to overcome.

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SPIRITUAL DEVELOPMENT

Incarcerated individuals are all too familiar with men and women who use the Bible or another holy book

as a shield, as a way to keep the predators at bay in prison. Many incarcerated individuals turn to religion

on a temporary basis, as a way to show their family and friends, and eventually the Board, that they have

changed. I would hope that is not the case with you, and that you have truly sought some manner of

nding spirituality while in prison. If incarcerated individuals had been more spiritual while in the free

world, chances are good that they would not have commied the crimes they did. But that’s another story.

This secon is about what you should say to the Board if you have become involved in religious studies,

or if you’ve just simply become aware that a good person needs to understand that he is part of a planet

of human beings who deserve respect, and he has looked within himself for the best way to become a

respecul person.

Those concepts may seem trivial and too simple when compared to the grandeur that is organized religion,

but many incarcerated individuals just don’t become religious and don’t aend services in prison. I don’t

think becoming involved in organized religion is necessary for one to be a beer person, or to make parole.

There are individual Board members who may desire that every incarcerated individuals aend church on

a regular basis. But what if you don’t? I don’t think you should lie and say you do. There are things you can

say to let the Board know that you realize there are ways people should act with each other that show they

understand that cruelty and wastefulness means one is being selsh and acng in an unspiritual fashion.

Photo by Rex Features

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If you have been aending church and are in fact a religious person, you should by all means share that

with the Board:

“I aend church whenever possible. I am a [Catholic, Bapst, Muslim] and I read the [Bible,

Koran] daily. I have tried to incorporate the concepts taught in the [Bible, Koran] into my

life whenever possible. I realize that my life before I came to prison was without a moral

foundaon and that is why I was able to commit the crimes I did. Religion has allowed

me to nd peace. I turn to the [Bible, Koran] whenever I become depressed or angry, and

there are always passages or scriptures there that help me understand my place in the

world. I pray daily, giving thanks to the Lord for my life and my health. If anything good

has come out of this experience, it is that I have become a praccing [Chrisan, Muslim]

and I have accepted beliefs and adopted a lifestyle that will prevent me from turning to

crime again.”

If you have become a praccing member in a religion that does not have regular services, or that is not a

mainstream Chrisan denominaon, you should say something similar to the above. If you are a Buddhist,

Jehovah’s Witness, Wiccan, or a member of a Nave American church, say so. Tell the Board how being

part of that group has made you a beer person, and how that has made you realize how deeply you’ve

hurt others. Explain that you aren’t the person you were when you commied your crime, and how the

moral foundaon you now possess will prevent you from turning to crime when you are released.

What if you aren’t religious? Explain that you accept that there are moral foundaons that all people

possess, and that you have become a more spiritual person by realizing that people have turned to religion

because they cannot explain the profound nature of existence. Say that you totally respect people who

are religious, but that you are sll struggling to accept organized religion and this does not mean you don’t

believe in a superior being, or in the connuing nature of the world and the everlasng nature of our life

force. Try to nd a way to say that you believe that living one’s life in a spiritual fashion means always being

respecul of others’ beliefs and lifestyles; that it means realizing that the world’s resources are not endless

and that a person should not live a wasteful life; that it means accepng what you can do and doing that

every day, all of your life.

This may sound kind of New Age, and it is. But I think the Board will beer accept you saying something of

this nature, especially if you’ve thought about it and mean it, than you telling them something you don’t

believe in.

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GOAL STATEMENTS

This is an area that not many incarcerated individuals write about, but I think it is crucial, not only for the

Board, but for the incarcerated individuals. Wring down your goals makes you beer able to envision

actually achieving them. Wring them down makes them real. You’ll have to think about the resources

you’ll need, plan ways to get those resources, and how to best use them. Thinking about and wring down

your goals is one of the best things you can do to make them come true.

You should write dierent sets of goals for the Board:

“Upon release, I have set the following goals for myself.

Immediate goals: Meet my parole ocer; have supper with my family; check in to my

halfway house.

Three-day goals: Go to my rst AA meeng; go to Workforce and register as a job seeker;

begin my job search; have found a church I can aend.

One month goals: Have a job; have a bus pass; make inquiries at the college about part-

me courses; have had at least one weekend with my children; get my driver’s license.

Three-month goals: Begin to make child payments to my wife; visit with the teachers of

my children; apply to college.

Six-month goals: Move into apartment, even if I have to share one; begin classes at

community college; have a bicycle I can ride to school and work if I possible; look for a

beer job.

One-year goals: Have met someone I can trust to build a relaonship with; have at least

paral custody of my children; have my own vehicle, even if it’s old and I’m making

payments; start volunteering at church funcons or at community organizaons.”

This is the type of list you should be working on. Whatever your parcular life is like: whether you are

married or have kids or have a job waing or a place to stay; all of those things should be on this list. When

do you plan on going to work? When do you plan on taking your driver’s license test? When can you start

paying the child support you owe? How soon can you aord to get a car? When can you aord to pay rent?

How about geng insurance?

All of these things will need to be part of your life soon. But you need to be realisc about them. You may

not be able to begin payments to your former spouse, or buy a car and pay for insurance, not for a while.

Be realisc about the me frame. Write down your goals and then fashion them into a Goals Statement

that you can include in your Parole Packet. You should also say that as things progress, you may change

some of the dates, but that these are the minimum dates you’ve set for yourself. You should also say

that you realize unexpected expenses or problems may arise, and that you understand these may not be

possible to achieve but that you will not be put o by that; you’ll adjust and rewrite new Goals.

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PENANCE STATEMENT

This is something that I believe every inmate should not only include in his parole packet but should also

internalize as necessary for his development as a person and as a member of a community. It’s something

that I began to think about when I was incarcerated, and it is built around an idea I’ve had, one which I’ve

since realized is part of a larger psychological and sociological belief: Every convicted criminal, if he decides

to truly rehabilitate himself, comes to understand that he must give something back to the community

that he damaged.

All of us belonged to various communies, some larger than others. I’m not talking about cies, although

that can be one denion of a community. I mean the group of people who nurtured us, who cared for us,

who worried about us when we began that downward spiral into drug and alcohol abuse and into criminal

behavior. They, and we, were in turn part of larger communies; neighborhoods, rural areas, towns and

cies. Our families are our primary community. Our friends are our second community. Our neighborhood

is our third. The members of our churches and our schools are others.

In some way or another, we hurt each of those communies when we commied crimes, either by abusing

their trust, by selling drugs in their neighborhoods, by burglarizing their homes, or by robbing their stores

and perhaps assaulng or killing another community member. Our communies may be ready to welcome

us back, but we owe them something. Not necessarily money in the form of restuon, but our me and

some sort of eort that will, in a tangible way say, “I’m sorry. I truly apologize for the things I did. I would

like to assist my community in some way and to make penance to myself and to you.”

Most incarcerated individuals understand this, and it is why you hear them say, “I would like to work with

kids.” A lot of inmates make generalized statements like that, and it is because they realize the harm they’ve

caused, and they don’t want to see others go down the same road. But most incarcerated individuals don’t

have the skills or educaon to speak to troubled youth. Every inmate, however, does have something he

can give back to his community as a way of making penance, if only he will be truthful about himself and

his skills.

Have you taken a vocaonal course in prison that taught you how to work with cars? Have you worked in a

furniture factory and learned how to repair old, taered sofas? Have you worked in a garment factory and

learned how to sew? Can you hand out food? Cut grass? Pick up trash?

All of those things are needed, in some way or another, in every community. You should decide what it is

you can do, decide the best way to volunteer your services, and then write that down as a plan and present

it as part of this packet.

Let’s say you have some mechanical skills. What if you and a couple of friends were to approach a man who

owned a garage in the neighborhood and oered to x the cars of low-income families once a month, free of

charge? Maybe he’d be willing to donate the garage and the use of his tools for one day. You could adverse

in the neighborhood and ask the car owners to buy whatever parts they needed to repair their cars. You and

your friends would then work on and x the cars for free, donang your me and labor and experse.

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That is what you can say to the Board in your penance statement:

“I would like to volunteer my me and services and skills at least one weekend a month to

repair the cars of low-income families in my neighborhood. I feel that is one way I can give

something back to the members of my community.”

You can then outline the plan I’ve described above. And it doesn’t have to be xing cars. It could be

oering to roof someone’s house, or cung the grass of an older neighbor, or of xing the lawnmowers of

poor neighbors so they can cut their own grass. Any skill you have can be put to use in volunteer seng so

that the community can see that you are willing to give something, not just take as you used to. Any plan

you can realiscally accomplish needs to be detailed and set down in this secon as something you will do

to make penance to your community.

If this demands too much of your me, you can always volunteer for a local organizaon or charity in your

community. Many of them won’t accept formerly incarcerated individuals, but don’t let that deter you

because many will, especially the ones run and staed by neighborhood churches. You can say in your

Penance Statement:

“I plan to ask my neighborhood pastor if I can parcipate in monthly volunteer eorts that

our church uses to beaufy the community, whether that means repairing old houses,

picking up trash in abandoned lots, or something else. But I believe that I owe something

to my community and that is one way of giving back.”

The act of staying out and staying away from criminal behavior, called desistance, is an ongoing event that

is usually accompanied by a genuine eort to become part of a community by giving something to that

community. Think about what you can do to make penance to your community, and write that down as

part of your Penance Statement and include it in your parole packet.

HOW TO WRITE

Parole Packets

SUPPORT LETTERS

This is the one secon of a parole packet that every incarcerated individual worries about, and the one

which he usually gets too much of. When it comes to support leers, quality means more than quanty.

The two most important types of leers you can include in your parole packet are, rst, those from people

who are oering you a place to stay, and second, from someone oering you a job. I know incarcerated

individuals who have asked their family to solicit leers from the enre congregaon of their church. I

don’t know how many leers they actually got that way, but one truly hearelt leer from a pastor who

knew you before you went to prison and could aest to your spiritual and personal growth would mean

more than a bunch of pre-wrien leers from people who haven’t seen you in a long me.

If you have become involved in a ministry or in some sort of network that called for you to write and meet

many people, then it could be that you will in fact have a lot of people willing to write meaningful support

leers for you. I don’t mean to discourage you from having your friends and family write. I just don’t think

you should be franc about it. I don’t think you should be asking your family to pester their friends, who

may be uncomfortable asking the Board to let you go, especially if you’ve done some crazy things in their

neighborhood and they aren’t sure if you’ve changed. This can be tricky, but if you’ve truly made an eort

to change your atude and behavior, that will show and you will have people willing to write the Board

and say something truly hearelt.

Support leers should generally come from three groups of people: your family, your friends and former

employers, and potenal employers. You must allow each person to express what level he or she is

comfortable with. Your family members will be the most vehement. They will likely say:

“I have seen the changes in my brother. I know that he was under the inuence of drugs

when he robbed that store. He has been clean now for six years. He has taken college

courses, nished a vocaonal course, and he goes to church every week. I pray to you:

please let my brother come home to his family, who loves him and needs him very much.”

Your friends won’t give that kind of recommendaon. In fact, they may not even ask for your release. What

they will express, however, is invaluable – a view of who you were then and who you are now:

“I have known this inmate for most of his life. I remember being saddened and

tremendously hurt by his acons, and I remember how his going to prison devastated his

family. But I have wrien him dozens of mes since he’s been in prison. I truly believe that

he has changed and that given the opportunity he can be a good member of society. I ask

that the Board give his applicaon for parole a serious review.”

See the dierence? Your friend doesn’t ask the Board to let you go; they ask that you be given “serious

review.” Many people are uncomfortable asking that you be released, but are more than willing to ask the

Board to seriously consider you. And if these people are the ones who have been in your life a long me,

the Board will listen more to them then to a person who is wring because she goes to church with your

mom but doesn’t really know you.

HOW TO WRITE

Parole Packets

An employer’s leer will be dierent. He will rarely ask that you be granted parole, unless he’s employed

you before or is a family friend. Even if you’ve worked with him before, he may not be likely to ask that you

be released, and that’s not what you want from him. You want him to write the Board and say:

“I am willing to give this inmate an opportunity to work for me if the Board grants his

parole. I propose to pay him $10 an hour, with a raise aer six months, if he performs his

dues in a responsible fashion and agrees to the spulaons I ask of all my employees,

which aren’t dicult to follow.”

What I’ve outlined above is what you should ask of your family and friends. The support leer itself

shouldn’t be more than a page. It should be in the following format:

Mrs. Maria Hernandez

200 Riverside Drive

Ausn, TX 78741

May 2, 2009

Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles

XXXXXX

Anytown, TX 78711-3401

In re: TDCJ# 555555

Dear Board Members:

I hope this nds you well. I am wring you today to ask that you vote to release my son, Jose

Hernandez, TDCJ# 555555, on parole and allow him to return to his family.

I understand that what Jose did was not only illegal but shameful in many ways. But more

important, Jose understands that. I have seen him grow in so many ways that I hardly recognize

him now. But that’s good, because the boy he was before he went to prison was someone I didn’t

recognize either. He’s become a man, a good man, one who goes to church and has taken Bible

classes. Jose has received his AA degree and is working toward his BS in Sociology. While I don’t

think he will become a social worker, the discipline it takes for him to work in the furniture factory

and go to church and sll make good grades in college will do him good when he comes home.

I am opening my home to Jose, just as I do to all my family. I know he will want to move out soon

and get his own place, and I will help him if I can. I will allow him to use an old truck I have for

work, and I have bought him a six-month pass so he can use the bus to nd work and go to school.

I will do whatever I can to ensure that Jose has all the support and love he needs in this dicult

me. The pastor at my church is also wring a leer of support. He has known our family for over

thirty years, and he will tell you how much Jose has changed.

If there is anything I can do to help you make this dicult decision, please don’t hesitate to call

me at 555 555-5555. May God guide you in this. Thank you for your me and paence.

HOW TO WRITE

Parole Packets

All familial support leers should have this format, be of similar length and this specic. They should spell

out to the Board (1) what they are oering, (2) what they are willing to do, and (3) how they’ve seen the

inmate change throughout his incarceraon.

Although the leers you will include should aest to the changes your friends and family have seen in you,

support leers are most important when they oer exactly that: support. One leer from a friend oering

not only the use of a car but also a place to stay is worth ten leers aesng to how “he goes to church and

has changed his atude about life.” The rst leer oers tangible support – transportaon and a place to

stay. That type of assistance is what the Board is looking for, rather than a bunch friend talking about how

you’ve “changed.”

So ask your friends and family to be specic. Have them introduce themselves in the leers. If they are

providing some type of support – even if it’s something as seemingly simple as a place to eat now and

then, along with some emoonal and spiritual support, have them detail that:

“Joe is welcome in my house anyme, especially if he just wants to talk about some of the challenges he

is facing. I can’t oer Joe a place to stay, but he is welcome to come by and eat with my family, to join our

prayer group, and to go to an AA meeng with me. I will oer him all the emoonal and spiritual support

I can; all he needs to do is ask.”

That is the type of support many friends are willing to oer. If they do, ask them to say so, in plain language.

Ask them to provide their name, address, telephone number, and perhaps what they do for a living. The

Board may contact them; they may not. But that type of real support is what the Board looks for in support

leers. If you can provide the Board with half a dozen leers from family members who open up their

homes to you, and a few friends who oer emoonal and spiritual support, and if you can get just one

potenal employer to send in a leer, anything else is unneeded.

You don’t need family support to be granted parole, so don’t despair if you and your family have not yet

arrived at that point. I did not have one family member write a support leer for me before I was granted

parole on my 60-year sentence. I had about eight good leers from friends, two of whom oered a place

to stay. I had two oers of employment.

But family support is important aer you’re released. Most studies agree that the single biggest factor

dictang whether or not a given incarcerated individual will succeed once released is whether or not he

has family support. Now that I’m out, I’ve been blessed to have that.

So remember: quality over quanty. Support leers should include oers of some type of support, not just

empty words talking about change.

HOW TO WRITE

Parole Packets

CERTIFICATES AND AWARDS

Most TDCJ educaonal, vocaonal, and rehabilitaon programs give inmates cercates of recognion

upon compleon. You should include these, or preferably copies of these, in your packet. The school at

your unit will usually be happy to make a few copies for you, especially if you tell them you’re using them

in your parole packet. If not, don’t argue about it: just include the originals. They won’t do you any good

sing in your locker.

If your family is compiling your parole packet, then send the cercates home and ask them to make

copies and save the original.

In either case, include these in your packet. You should refer to what you had to do to actually earn them

in the secon on Educaonal History or Spirituality, especially if you’ve taken religious studies courses and

have been awarded cercates of compleon or of recognion.

Include any award you’ve been given while incarcerated. I don’t care if it’s for wring an essay for school;

for perfect aendance; for compleng the hours necessary for OJT qualicaon; or if it’s a master’s degree.

Any cercate is evidence that you’ve applied your discipline and that you’ve accomplished something

somebody thought was worthy of recognion.

HOW TO WRITE

Parole Packets

PRESENTATION

What should your package look like? Well, since I’ve strongly urged you to do the packet yourself and it is

very likely that you don’t have access to a typewriter, much less a computer, I can’t very well insist it be

typed. That would be nice, but it’s not always possible. So, above all, your package should be neat. If you

have to write it by hand, write it once, have a friend edit it and check for spelling and grammacal errors,

then write it again, in ink. If you have a family member who has access to a computer or typewriter, have

them type it or print it out, double-spaced, in an easy-to-read font like Times New Roman. Don’t ask them

to use a cursive font, because those are really hard to read.

You should have a cover page, with your name and TDCJ number on it. Nothing fancy, just that. The next

page should be a Table of Contents, indicang what page each secon begins on. You don’t have to begin

every secon on a new page, especially since some of the secons will be short, maybe less than half a

page. It doesn’t really maer what order your secons are in, although I recommend always beginning with

the Introductory Leer, then going to the Parole Plan. Aer that, go with the secons that you believe put

you in the best light. If you have a really good educaonal and employment history, then start with those.

Number the pages of each of the secons you write. You don’t need to number Support Leers or your

Cercates and Awards. Put them aer the wrien secons, and in your Table of Contents, aer you give

the page numbers of the wrien secons, write Support Leers, Cercates and Awards.

If you can, try to get some sort of binder in which to place the packet. Most have a method for you to

aach the pages, either by punching holes in the paper and sliding some type of ring through the hole, or

something similar. You can usually borrow a hole-puncher from an ocer at a hallway desk or in the law

library or at the school. If your family is doing this packet for you, then they should do this. It doesn’t have

to be expensive or overly fancy. Something simple and funconal will do ne. They don’t give parole for

looks but for content.

You should have at least three copies of the packet. One is for your records. One you will take with you

to the parole interview. And one you or your family will mail to the Board of Pardons and Paroles at the

following address:

Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles

P.O. Box 13401

Ausn, TX 78711-3401

You don’t need to mail a copy to the regional parole oce. The copy you give to the person who interviews

you will be included in the jacket that goes to the board members and commissioner who vote on your

case. The Board sll does this the old-fashioned way: They look at your jacket, which is in a folder, and your

parole packet will be included in that folder.

And that’s it. Good luck.

HOW TO WRITE

Parole Packets

If you get a set-o, you don’t have to submit a new parole packet. Just write the Board a new leer of

introducon, stang what the Board’s decision was the previous me and what you have done to address

any negaves they remarked upon. If you’ve completed any more college or vocaonal courses since the

set-o, list them and include any documentaon such as cercates and degrees. You can have your family

and friends write another leer to the Board then also, merely repeang what they said before, asking the

Board to please reconsider you for parole. But once you mail in one packet, it is not necessary for you to

submit an enre new one every me you come up for parole. Just send in leers updang your situaon.

Remember: Parole is never a right. That’s just not the way it works. Release on parole is never certain, no

maer how good you’ve been in prison, how long you’ve been there, what degrees you’ve been awarded,

or how strong your network of family and friends is. I repeat – the best thing you can do to make parole

is to look into your heart, admit to yourself what you’ve done wrong, and make the changes necessary to

become an honorable and dignied person and live an honorable and dignied life. If you do those things,

parole will follow, and you’ll leave prison, never to return.