A few weeks ago I got a call from my friend Susan Randall, the private investigator you might remember from previous shows. She said that ‘T.O.’–a former client in a federal public defender case–had just been released from prison seven days before, after serving a six year bid. He was trying to figure out what to do next and also clearly trying to figure out how to manage the world outside prison. Where people are just walking around. Susan said she and T.O. were having lunch and she asked me to join them. After lunch, T.O. and I drove down to the waterfront in Burlington to talk in my car.
I wanted to try to understand what it’s like to be seven days out of jail, with no housing, no money, and no family. I wanted to know what it’s like to adjust to freedom after years of confinement.
Here’s what he said.
Superb episode Erica and good luck TO. I am sure you will enjoy the Plain life.
This was distressing. How is TO ever going to set up a life in the suburbs? How does anyone reach their goals when those goals may be impossible to reach? How would I strike out and start over? And am I afraid like TO to leave my metaphorical prison? Am I institutionalized too? I identified with TO.
Yes this was an EXCEPTIONAL EPISODE!
I want to thank Erica and TO as this was a great partnership that made this episode so good.
TO good luck, take it day by day.
phenomenal episode it is..good luck TO
Another interesting podcast! I don’t know what determines the length of your podcasts, you certainly must have many more questions – I know I did.
I hope you plan to do a follow up on this gentleman in 6 months or so.
Hi CJ. Yes…I’d love to do at least one, maybe more followup episodes with TO. Stay tuned!
This was a moving, informative, and timely piece of work.
Anyone who has read the numbers can tell you that our “cage and dump” penal system is not working. We need to change the criminal justice system, and more importantly, the systems that precede it, to deal with the *why* of crime.
I hope TO can find a new way of living, but I know that everything in our society is stacked against him.
Erica, I just spent the afternoon and evening with T.O., and I gave him a chance to listen to the show on my laptop, as he didn’t have a computer or phone that would play it. He was deeply moved and so very grateful to you for taking the time to not just hear him, but that you really listened. THANK YOU for showing up and getting it all down, in spite of the deluge that day! T.O. even played the show for his class at CCV today, and his fellow students were in tears. Now a month out, he is hitting his stride, and doing all the right things and making good choices. He also came out on a boat for the first time in his life last night, (had only been on the Staten Island ferry) and watched the sunset on Lake Champlain. You did an amazing job on this show. Thank you, from the bottom of my heart. This show is really important for all of us to hear. See you in six months!
“I’m hungry for a plain life”. If only those living the plain life knew the hunger. We so often assume everyone has their basic needs met.
Listening to the podcast i’m thinkink to myself… dang that is some rain storm.
Thank you for another moving listen.
What a poet. What a voice. “A bigger plantation”–yeah…I hear ya.
Great segment Erica.
“I want a plain life”. powerful.
I was struck by the universality of never being able to make a decision. This is true of many people: those in orphanages, in mental institutions, those not institutionalized but captives in their own heads.
So many of us ‘normal’people can’t imagine what it is like.
Very powerful segment.
Such a powerful and moving episode; well done. If TO can qualify for 3SquaresVT, he might qualify for JFI too. Both can help. Good luck TO.
Great episode. It is so distressing that our criminal justice system sets people up to fail when released. How can we expect someone with no family, no help, to just “figure it out.” I can tell TO is ready for a new life, and he has the hunger it takes to be successful. I am rooting for him, I truly am. There is a ‘plain life’ out there for him. Making the right choice is never easy, but if you stay the path and keep moving forward, you will be proud of what you can accomplish. Hang tough, TO!! We are all rooting for you!!
Wow! Hope T.O. is doing OK. Congratulations for this episode. It speaks about failed institutions, the failing war on drugs, the economic inequality and what the rain represent to a person.
I love this. Unfortunately he’s back in jail and in the process of being shipped back to Vermont. I know him and I just read the book he’s working on. I’m praying he gets it published and makes something out of his life when he gets released. He just needs a helping hand.