Dolphy Jordan, a man convicted of stabbing his friend’s mother has been released after being in jail for 21 years. Jordan was a foster child, and before committing the murder at age 16, he had been to 15 different schools by the time he got to high school. The foster family that had taken him in at the time had reciprocated the abusiveness from his original home.
He, along with his friend deliberated an “elaborate plan”, to help out his situation, but never “thought any further than that." One day, he retaliated. This time instead of going to a new foster home, the state penitentiary took him in.
Now at age 39, Jordan has decided to partake in the Post-Prison Education Program, or PPEP. This program helps revamp ex-convicts mindsets, to assemble a new life. This is done through counseling with the individuals, giving more education options to them and instilling the basic knowledge needed for computer use.
Jordan has followed the PPEP’s directions and now has been asked to participate in the a panel at Town Hall called "Inequality in the Age of Mass Incarceration." Bruce Western, the author of "Punishment and Inequality in America,” will be present as well. The point of the meeting is to show that the panel has concluded that prison does affect its detainees’ attitudes towards life. It is also meant to show that once out of prison, it is possible for ex-convicts to live normal lives.
Western’s book holds many statistics that show the percentage of white and black males in prison. It also exemplifies the causes of their crimes, most of them being drug-related. An example is that in 1996, 36% of prison inmates were black high-school dropouts ages 25 to 65. The majority of them were arrested due to drug-related crimes.
The panel also states that violence and other forms of abuse may contribute to the crimes committed. With Jordan for example, having a history of abuse, violence didn’t seem as inappropriate to him compared to someone whom had never experienced it before. This is the reason they support the PPEP, in rehabilitating ex-convicts.
In prison, Jordan received education up until getting his GED. After that, he began to read older books by authors such as Dickens and Clancy to better educate and entertain himself while staying in multiple detention centers.
Once he was released from prison and joined the PPEP (he is currently a volunteer coordinator), Jordan attended South Seattle Community College with hopes of transferring to the University of Washington and majoring in sociology. During classes, Jordan keeps his dark past a secret to avoid attention drawn to him. He noted that when he neglected to mention he was in prison, “they treat [him] like a normal person.”
Dolphy Jordan is now a citizen of Seattle and attends College, knowing that the murder he committed will always follow him.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nicolebrodeur/2016465430_nicole11m.html
I like the way you organized this article it makes it very easy to read. A couple things to consider would be first the title. In the intro paragraph I didn't realize that Jordan was from Seattle and the title didn't really inform me of what the article was going to be about at all. You could change the title to "Seattle man convicted of murder is released from prison." Or something along those lines to solve both these issues. Also I would consider replacing paragraph five with a paragraph about more information about the panel at Town Hall.
ReplyDeleteParagraph 4 typo in the first sentence: "In the a panel.." Easy to fix.
I really like this article. It is a touching and inspired article for me. Your article looks well organized. I have a great time to read this reading. However, When I see your title at the very first time, I cannot guess or infer what this article is going to mention about. I think you can fix your title. On the other hand, there is a sentence which I feel a little bit tricky for me. "knowing that the murder he committed will always follow him." I think this article's purpose is concentrating on how PPEP help the prisoners. However, the last sentence let me feel the conclusion is different from the previous paragraph. I think you can fix the last sentence. I still feel this is a nice reading. Great work!
ReplyDeletehey serena! i think you should add more about the ppep. maybe talk about it as if no one knows what it is. maybe talk about if it was difficult to get his ged in prison and talk about his ambitions and how he feels about getting a degree/ why he was so determined. Other than that, i think it was a great article and good job!
ReplyDelete