Wednesday, May 11, 2011

And so it begins...

     When I entered into this relationship with Lorne, I knew what I was getting into...I knew that Lorne was a convicted felon, I knew exactly what he was in for.  Lorne has been nothing but upfront and open with everything.  Every question I asked, he answered.  I knew it pained him greatly to be so open and honest.  He risked me walking away if he wasn't, and he knew this.  I have always felt that anything can be faced as long as one knew all the details.  So for me, it was paramount that he give me all the details of how he ended up being incarcerated. 
     According to Lorne, for the most part, his case was done.  There were no more appeals to be had, higher courts had affirmed his conviction and there was nothing left to be done but to work towards either a parole or a sentence modification through the pardons board.  The most recent venture was to work towards a sentence modification through the pardons board.  Not an easy thing to do.  Lorne's mother wrote a letter, she also enlisted the help of other family friends to write letters as well.  I wrote a letter as well (which I will post on here as well) all in the hope of securing a release date for him.  When you read my letter (and the others) you will see what our plan was. 
      I try to visit him twice a year.  May and October are our dates because they follow our favorite holidays, Beltane and Samheim.  The most recent visit was May 7-9, 2011.  On May 6, Lorne received a lovely form letter from the pardons board that his case was not to be heard.  My first full day with Lorne was listening to him rant about the injustice of it all.  All I could do was listen.  The sad part about it all, he's right. 
     Now keep in mind, Lorne has NEVER said he didn't do the crime...he did and he accepts the fact that jail time was warranted.  Lorne isn't an inmate who proclaims his innocence (although given the circumstances as described by Lorne, it could be argued that his crime was in self-defense...more on that later) but he does rail against a system that keeps their criminals far beyond "justice" and moves into "revenge".
     My second ex-husband was a correctional officer for the state of NV.  He was very fond of saying that "NV likes to keep its inmates".  And that they do! One prison wife told me this weekend a statistic that was told to her..."67% of Nevada inmates who are eligible for parole, get it" However, what that figure does NOT tell you is that most of those are paroles to other sentences.  The inmates don't get out...they are still incarcerated.  The only thing is that they can now start working on their NEXT sentence. 
     I'm not quite sure what I hope to accomplish with this blog...all I know is that there are somethings that need to change and that the only way change can be initiated is for it to be shown the light of day. 
    I will be posting on here my journey through this system.  Some will be my thoughts, some will be cold hard facts and some of the postings will be from Lorne as well.  I will also be posting some of his legal documents on here as well so that you can see for yourself and make your own decisions if his incarcerations for the past 12 years has been "just" or if it is time for him to just come home.

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