by Luna Garzón-Montano, 2019 Haywood Burns Fellow
The Parole Preparation Project (PPP) of the NLG-NYC Chapter was co-founded by now Executive Director Michelle Lewin and Nora Carroll in 2013. Parole Prep works with incarcerated people who are eligible for parole. In New York State, when someone is eligible for parole, they appear before the Board of Commissioners of Parole for a short interview—but cannot have an advocate with them. Parole Prep trains volunteers to help applicants prepare for these hearings. Additionally, volunteers request prison and medical records, obtain letters of support, and draft advocacy letters to the Commissioners. Upon release, PPP welcomes applicants home at its annual Welcome Home celebration. I became involved with PPP in 2015 when I learned that the Project would be assisting Chas Ransom.
I met Chas in 2013. I was one of ten Vassar students who traveled to and from Otisville Correctional Facility every Tuesday for class. I had never been to a prison, and my knowledge of them, and the people inside, was minimal. With each passing week, I was struck by one of the Otisville students: Chas. When he walked into the classroom, his presence commanded the attention of the room. He always smiled, truly appreciative of the opportunity to be among peers learning and exchanging ideas.
Halfway through the semester I learned that Chas was 29 years into an indeterminate sentence of 25-years-to-life imprisonment for second-degree murder. At this point, he had been denied parole three times. Years later, in conversations about redemption, Chas would say, “people will believe it when they see it.” Knowing Chas was knowing that people are more than their worst mistake. And it wasn’t because of anything he said. It was who he was. Knowing him was to believe in redemption.
In 2015, he was denied parole for the fourth time. The Commissioners cited the nature of the offense, a fixed event. In subsequent conversations with Chas, we discussed how the Commissioners were unable to recognize redemption in someone convicted of a serious crime; that their understanding of humanity was limited.
In 2017, after 33 years, Chas was finally granted parole. A few weeks later, Michelle Lewin and I went to pick him up at Otisville. As we drove away from the prison, Chas let out a sigh. “I’m so glad to be going somewhere without shackles. Now it’s on to the road out there,” he said, pointing ahead. We spent the day doing what would have otherwise been mundane tasks: going to the bank, stopping by the supermarket, buying clothes and toiletries. Observing Chas highlighted things I took for granted. Upon leaving the bank, Chas stared at the money he held in his hands. In prison, this was contraband. At the supermarket, he marveled at all of the options. In prison, his choices has been limited to the commissary list.
In October I received a devastating call. Chas had suffered a fatal heart attack. He had been home three months, not even long enough to attend his Welcome Home party. In the moments of confusion following Chas’s death, I felt fortunate enough to know exactly what he would have wanted me to do. Chas believed in redemption, in doing the personal work most of us shy away from, in creating, in fighting, and in giving back.
This past week I attended Parole Prep’s annual Welcome Home celebration. I thought of my time as a volunteer for the Project and I thought of Chas. Each of the applicants who had been released took to the stage to share a small piece of their story and give thanks to PPP and the volunteers. When you work with an applicant you give your time and your energy, but what you receive in return is unparalleled. As volunteers, we learn that good people can make terrible mistakes, that everyone has dignity, and that these two things are simultaneously true. We see firsthand how, as a society, we do not give people room to change, yet we punish them for what they cannot change. We work with people who understand most deeply what it means to forgive. Watching the applicants on stage I couldn’t help but feel that we should be the ones giving thanks. ■
The Parole Preparation Project works with people who are incarcerated serving life sentences in New York State. Their website is paroleprepny.org and their mailing address is 168 Canal St 6th Floor, New York, NY 10013.
Above: Photo of Chas Ransom by the author, driving away from Otisville Prison after being released.