Should people be eligible for parole after serving 20 years?

Should people be eligible for parole after serving 20
years?
Credit: Maia McDonald/Block Club Chicago
Chance the Rapper (left) and fellow rapper Common at a news conference Oct. 20 calling for Illinois to bring back
parole.
Let's talk about Changes that want to be made in the Illinois parole law. Chance the
Rapper and Common are advocates of senate bill 2333. That would mean that people
would be eligible for parole after they've served in the Illinois Department of Corrections
for at least 20 years. Chance the rapper said “SB 2333 is a necessary policy that will
begin to correct the harms of long-term incarceration in this state and put an end to the
negative impacts that incarceration has on our community, family members, and the
loved ones of those who are incarcerated,”.
Everyone should have a chance to try and live a normal life or as normal as you can get.
They should be able to see their loved ones again, their children, friends. Although you
go into prison because you have commited a crime, that doesn’t mean you will stay that
person forever. Prison can be a place where you grow and change to better yourself.
You could even get a degree while being incarcerated, that is an option.

Chance the Rapper recalls performing for seven inmates who had earned their
bachelors degree. Chance the Rapper said “Driving out through endless cornfields to a
walled-off compound isolated from the rest of society, walking into an auditorium to be
greeted by armed guards and then to sit and see the rows of men I was there to perform
for shackled hands and feet, draped all in blue,”. To think at this moment they were most
likely as happy or excited as they could be and to have to go back into their cell that is
as small as a shoe box.
Common talked about reconnecting with a man he had grown up with in Stateville
prison that he met while making an appearance for his nonprofit Imagine Justice’s
Rebirth of Sound program. The man was serving a life sentence and wanted to change
his life and apologize for his mistakes. He said “It’s people like me that are dealing with
mental sickness and dealing with mental pain, that can change and transform,”.
We should address racism in the justice system. This change is supposed to provide
equal treatment in sentencing. It's no secret that latinos and black people are treated
differently than white people. This has been going on for centuries. It's as if latinos and
blacks are aliens from a different planet. They would often be given a longer sentence
than white people.
The criminal justice system needs to learn that these people are human beings and not
something you can just stuff in a cell and forget about. Many inmates need actual help.
As soon as you are registered in the system you are not looked at as anything other than
a monster. Little Village native Pablo Mendoza, a Parole Illinois organizer who served 22
years in prison, said the criminal justice system needs to focus on rehabilitation instead
of “warehousing people.”
It’s time that we open these lawmakers' eyes. Just because they are in a higher position
does not mean they are better than the people that are committing these crimes. What
they do in these prisons is inhuman.
I can understand that these people have commited a crime. You may be a little hesitant
to open your mind and your heart to the idea that these people are humans that made
mistakes like everyone else. They have families and some may be in need of help and
you shouldn't treat them like they are worthless. It would be a lot more logical to help
these people then let them sit in their cells and do nothing with their lives.
Whenever you see or think of an inmate, don't think of them as monsters. Think of them
as people that need to get better. You only believe what you hear there is always another

side to the story. You don't know how they might have gotten into their situation. You
don't know their story.
Citations:
1. Mmcdonald, M. (2021, October 22). Chance the rapper and common push for parole in Illinois: It
'will begin to correct the harms of long-term incarceration'. Block Club Chicago. Retrieved October
28, 2021, from
https://blockclubchicago.org/2021/10/20/chance-the-rapper-and-common-push-for-parole-in-illin
ois-it-will-begin-to-correct-the-harms-of-long-term-incarceration/.
2. Prison conditions. Equal Justice Initiative. (2021, March 10). Retrieved October 28, 2021, from
https://eji.org/issues/prison-conditions/.
3. Chancetherapper, SB2333, instagram, october 25, 2021.
Rhetorical analysis:
Ethos was used when I was quoting people that have experienced being incarcerated or
knew some that were incarcerated. Pathos was used when I was talking about the
conditions in prisons. Also the way the inmates are mistreated and not getting the help
that they need. Lastly, I used logos when explaining that these people can get better and
change. I also included real stories about inmates who got better for themselves and
their communities.
Rhetorical devices:
The phrase “...have to go back into their cell that is as small as a shoe box.” is
comparing an inmate's cell to a shoe box because it is so small. “...open your mind and
your heart to the idea that these people are humans…”. I am using a figure of speech in
which a word applies to two others in different senses. “It's as if latinos and blacks are
aliens from a different planet”. I am exaggerating, obviously latinos and balck people are
not aliens, it might just feel that way sometimes depending on how people treat us.