Lifers: article on Lonnie Morris
Tuesday, February 2nd, 2010Most of the men I know in prison (I mostly know men) are serving some kind of life sentence. Some — like Spoon — are serving life without possibility of parole. Some — like Coties — have a sentence so long (99 years) that it stands as a life sentence. Others — like Elmo — are serving term-to-life (in his case, 7-to-life, a sentence meant to last about 13 years in the era when he was convicted, but he’s now served over 30 years on that sentence).
Those with term-to-life sentences have to go before the Board of Prison Terms periodically and make a case for why they should be given a release date. There’s lots to share about this process, but for now here’s a very interesting article about one man — Lonnie Morris, whom Spoon, Coties, Elmo, and I all knew at San Quentin 25 years ago — and his experience with the Board.