Holding on to Hope

By Assistant Public Defender Meigan Thompson

At 34-years-old, Wallace is fighting to move on from a charge that has kept him under the grips of the criminal justice system since he was twenty-seven.

In 2015, Wallace became a convicted felon. He was placed on probation for 3 years. In 2019, the court found him in violation of his probation after he was accused of being in possession of a gun that was found in his neighbor’s yard. Wallace was sentenced to serve 3 years at the Shelby County Department of Corrections (“the Penal Farm”) for the violation of probation.

“At first, I didn't want to go do the time. But for as much as I didn’t want to do my time, I knew it was time to man up.” Once sent to the Penal Farm, Wallace turned his attention to bettering himself. He began taking classes. The first class that he took was called “Job Readiness.” It met once weekly and provided instruction on how to prepare for job interviews. Wallace completed it in three months. 

In February of this year, after six months of incarceration, Wallace received encouraging news from the Parole Board. He learned that he was approved for parole with one stipulation – he must complete a class called “Thinking for a Change” in order to be released on parole. “When I found out that I had to take this class, I was cool with it because I knew that it wouldn’t delay me from making it home in time for my son’s fourteenth birthday.”

Wallace signed up for “Thinking for a Change.” In April, he attended the first class. It was not long after this first class, however, that Wallace learned the Penal Farm was stopping all classes. “They came in and told everybody at once that there would be no more classes offered because of the Coronavirus. They had no idea when it would start back.” While educational institutions in Shelby County developed virtual programming for students in the wake of the coronavirus, neither the parole board nor the Penal Farm transitioned to virtual programming for people who are incarcerated.

“I’ve given him his chances. Let the parole board figure it out.”

By this time, Wallace was well aware of the Coronavirus. “I first heard about it when we were watching the news in the dorm. The news reported that cases were popping up here and there. We didn’t think it would impact us at the Penal Farm.”  They were wrong. By late March, the Penal Farm began implementing changes that restructured their daily life in order to prevent the risk of transmission among the population. “We could no longer walk to the Chow to eat our meals. Instead, our meals were brought to us in the dorms. When we had rec, we couldn’t play any contact sports. And they stopped all haircuts. I haven’t had a haircut in months.”

Soon it became clear to Wallace, however, that they would not be safe from the reach of the Coronavirus. “We started hearing that people in other dorms were testing positive. Even though no one tested positive in my dorm, I still felt anxious because I knew I couldn’t control my environment. When you’re in jail, you can’t control who comes into your environment so that you can limit your contact with them.”

In an instant, Wallace’s three-month timeline for going home was gone. When Wallace realized that he would be delayed from going home because he couldn't take the “Thinking for a Change” class, he sought an alternative. Wallace filed a pro se motion asking the Judge for probation. Then, he asked his lawyer to file one on his behalf. The Judge denied both motions. “I’ve given him his chances. Let the parole board figure it out.”

Wallace – along with others who are similarly situated - now waits on the Parole Board to decide whether to release him on parole without completion of the class requirement. He knows that the longer he stays in custody, the greater the risk of his exposure to the Coronavirus. “A guy I know tested positive a couple of weeks ago and they put him in quarantine. I haven’t seen him since.”

Wallace draws on his religious faith to keep a positive outlook, but he deals with moments of despair. “It’s disappointing. I’m being let down by the system … They should be letting us go. Classes shouldn’t be holding us back. We can’t take them and it’s not our fault. We’re missing out on life moments.”

Wallace recognizes that being on parole would not mean that his sentence has ended. Instead, it would mean that he would serve the remainder of his sentence being supervised by a parole officer and having to fulfill the multiple requirements of parole. Nonetheless, Wallace wants the opportunity to prove that he can be a productive member of society.

Wallace finds some hope knowing the parole board has determined that he is a good candidate for release under parole supervision. His continued incarceration seems counterintuitive to the goal of decreasing the population of incarcerated people during a pandemic. As long as the Penal Farm chooses to house Wallace in the same dormitory with dozens of people at a time, it is difficult to see how social distancing requirements can be fulfilled.

Wallace hopes the parole board will eventually see it that way.

*In order to protect our client’s identity, the client’s name has been changed.