We’re Just Getting Started
Dear Friends,
Our Pro Bono Parole Network has already made a big impact—and we’re just getting started. In just the first year of our program, we and our pro bono partners have taken on the representation of 25 clients with sentences ranging from eight years to life imprisonment. Twelve of our clients have already been granted parole.
One of our clients is Hazel, who experienced trauma at a young age, including witnessing the death of her mother when she was five years old and experiencing child abuse. These accumulated traumas led her to substance use; she was eventually incarcerated for possession of a controlled substance.
Since then, Hazel has centered her life on family, faith, and recovery, and has been an exemplary member of prison society. TDS advocated for Hazel before the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles. After hearing Hazel’s story, the parole board granted her a second chance. Hazel is returning home to live with her wife and to help care for her elderly aunt, who will live with her and has terminal cancer. Hazel will work at a local fuel company and her own HVAC business. Long term, she hopes to become a substance abuse counselor, and she has already started her training to become a certified Peer Support Specialist.
Half of the Texas prison population is currently eligible for parole, meaning they can serve the remainder of their sentence at home. So many incarcerated people, like Hazel, are ready to be released and to become breadwinners, caregivers, and contributing community members. But the Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles grants parole in only about 35% of the cases it reviews each year.
To make matters worse, incarcerated people receive little to no information about how to self-advocate during the parole process, which requires assembling a parole packet, crafting a reentry plan, and gathering letters of support.
People like Hazel deserve a second chance and the opportunity to contribute. We know that having an advocate in the parole process nearly doubles a person’s likelihood of going home. That’s why, in partnership with our pro bono law firms, we will be advocating for even more people seeking parole in the coming year.
With gratitude,
Burke Butler
Executive Director
Texas Defender Service
