Ultimate Rise Up

I have a friend who has spent the past ten years in prison. He only has thirteen more to go. If you got twenty three, your math is correct.

Prison sentences are divided into two sections: the base term is served first, then all of the enhancements. Enhancements are additional time added for special circumstances during a crime such as use of a weapon.

The enhancements for my friend have recently been struck down as not legal, however, he was still serving the time for them. Over the past year he has been petitioning the court to remove them from his sentence. Typically the attorneys for the State don’t relish the idea of letting people go home early. People construe that as being weak rather than letting justice be served.

If I were my friend, I’d probably be pretty irate, but he holds his cool. He has NEVER had a write up in his ten years. To put that into perspective, I got two in just eight months!

I had the opportunity to speak at his hearing a few weeks ago. We all felt that it went well. Last Friday my friend was finally able to make his case in front of the judge.

Justice was served. The judge agreed with him and us and struck down the remaining thirteen years!

My friend is coming home. And you know that he is going to…

—Rise Up!!