My barber was once a gangster. The first time he cut my hair, he showed me the scars on his stomach, his arms, and his back. Most of them were from his final gang fight – during which he was stabbed and beaten with a baseball bat. Both of his lungs were punctured and a knife was lodged just millimeters from his heart.
His heart stopped twice in the ambulance. During those “outages”, he had out-of-body experiences. He saw God, who told him that he wasn’t done living, that he had obligations to his family, and that it was time for him to turn his life around.
He stayed in the hospital for months. When he was released, he proposed marriage to his girlfriend, with whom he’d had three children. Days later, he moved across the city, attended his first day of barber school, and began making a life devoted to God, his wife, and his three children.
*****
He’d been cutting hair for seven years when I met him two years ago. And though he’d chosen the vocation because it was the only thing he thought he could do well, he quickly found that it was also a good way to make a difference in people’s lives.
The barber shop isn’t in a good area of town. Many of the kids who get haircuts there romanticized gang culture… until they met him. “It ain’t nothing to be proud of,” he’d say, often. “Nothing!”
A few months ago, I went to get a haircut from him, like usual. But he wasn’t around. I asked the other barbers where he was, and nobody answered. I asked again, and one of them said, “He was arrested for something he did ten years ago. It was fucked up. We don’t think he’ll ever get out.”
*****
Prosecutors love cases like the one he was up against. DNA evidence. a weapon, and witnesses (albeit in jail) willing to corroborate their story.
But what if the facts surrounding the gang shootout in which he was implicated weren’t the only facts that mattered? What if those facts told a story, but not the most relevant or useful story?
*****
His father was in a gang. So were his two older brothers and most of the boys in his schools (the few times he attended school). As far as he knew, there was no alternative to his lifestyle: “It was war since I was a child,” he once said, while cutting my hair. “And that’s not some college metaphor shit. It was fucking war!”
Yet despite growing up in a war zone (which, by the way, happens to be a thirty-minute drive from Beverly Hills), and knowing no alternative, he managed to get out, become a productive member of society, and become, also, a positive influence for young people around him.
*****
Yesterday I went back to the barber shop and learned that he’d been sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. “They put an innocent man behind bars,” my new barber said.
It seemed an absurd statement. “We all know he’s guilty,” the barber next to him retorted. The other barbers nodded their heads in agreement.
“Society is fucking guilty,” my new barber said, hands shaking, scissors drawn. “’Cause he’s still the most innocent man I know.”
He waited for a response. But there was none. So he continued cutting my hair.
I am not innocent, and I wish to help us all by using my mind to find the best form of government. There is a way to structure our self-government so that the most fair and most powerful force can be channeled to do the most good. If you wish for society to be cleansed, please keep your mind open to what you are about to hear and see.
I sort of agree with that new barber of yours.
You should get a petition on this website with at least 100-500 people leaving a comment that says, Let him out.
I would agree.
If there is no redemption, then evil men have no reason to change. Anyone who knowingly furthers evil is themself evil. Ergo, failure to permit redemption is evil. Redeem yourself.
Seems to me, putting his trust in some imaginary sky fairy was the final bad idea in a long line of bad ideas.
There are consequences to our actions. He lead a violent life and it caught up with him. Finding ‘Jesus’ after fucking up is the biggest cliché going.
Interesting post. It seems like, with all of our rhetoric about the primary purpose of the prison system being reform (as opposed to punishment), then it is deeply wrong to imprison someone who clearly has found the path to reform and could help others find it too.
Its just sad that regardless of what you do today, your past is right behind you and it may one day come back and hunt you. I like your blog.
It’s a false dilemma. Both the social institution (of street gangs) and the former thug (who, apparently, knew of nothing else) are responsible.
The real question is to what extent, and for how long, do we hold people accountable for actions in their past, even if they were coerced or indoctrinated into that behavior, and even if they managed to escape from it and change.
Another question, which is rarely asked, is how do we hold social institutions responsible for the effects they have, and how do we change or get rid of clearly destructive institutions. We know doing so is possible, people have done it many times, but we usually tell ourselves that “we can’t change that.”
It also might be helpful for us to start asking what the purpose of prison is, and whether it’s actually doing the things we would like? We throw a lot of people in jail in America, but we still have more problems with crime than other developed nations. Are we doing something counterproductive?
What’s sad is not that he’s paying for this crime, which, frankly, he should, but that he led a life that he couldn’t walk away from, even when he did everything he could to about-face. I don’t know about who’s to blame for gangs and gang culture, but it’s got to be about the most painful thing there is to try to be a good person when your past keeps you from making a good thing of it.
Q: Who’s guilty? A: Men who control the society
In the story’s case: Yes of course the barber was guilty. Just because he murdered someone 10 years ago doesn’t make him innocent. What about the guy he murdered, what if he was a barer too trying to take care of his family?
I’m a determinist so to me, guilt is hard notion to swallow. Things happen exactly as they have to happen.
If there’s any convincing evidence against determinism, I haven’t seen it.
I believe the judicial system is primarily there to uphold the morality of our society. Punishment (jail time) is only a mean to help individuals to turn around from a harmful ways in becoming productive citizens. I believe that many people associate with “an eye for an eye” and the barber must do time just because he committed a crime.
Sadly, those people themselves have lost their true sense of morality. We should not be out there to punish people. We are there to help and support each other.
It is true that he has changed his life and by that influenced others to a better way. Unfortunately, the case he was charged with was his doing. If it was one that has achieved a life sentence, then a price must be paid. Sorry doesn’t always do justice.
This is a great story about being able to change, and it is appreciated that it did not go into a ‘born again’ and ‘religious’ influence that made it all good. It is a story of a ‘changed’ but guilty man that must face his past wrong-doings.
-Eran
this story made me very sad. i recently went “home” after many years and spent time with an old friend. although gangs, per se, were not the thing for him, he has had a simular violent life and is now waking up to find that if his life doesn’t change, he will find himself in jail or worse.
i’m not saying that people shouldn’t have to pay for the reprocussions of their actions in some way, but not allowing change to happen is a crime itself. many of us don’t find another ‘way out’ of the shit hole until we manage to have a family and reach into a later stage of life, and society doesn’t allow for that.
it’s too bad, but it’s the way things work.
How much good can undo the evil someone has done? Is telling people not to join gangs (especially you, prob not a gangbanger) at a barbershop that he owns contrition? I don’t think so.
However the fact that he’s lived a clean life should be considered.
And it’s too bad society loves to throw away its bad, or partially bad apples.
Very well-written story that is all too much the regular in today’s time. They will always go after those who are less of a threat and throw them behind bars to make a point.
Kind of reminds me of the guy who got staggering jail sentance here in Texas over smoking weed while on parole. He was recently released.
It is a sad story, but it doesn’t provide a simple black and white answer. It is hard to make any sort of educated answer without knowing the full story, but this much I can say comfortably.
If a man murdered a relative of mine I would not just forgive and forget. There are mistakes and then there are mistakes. Some mistakes are too big to ignore.
The whole point of jail is for rehabilitation. If they looked at the facts they would know that he has been rehabilitated. Yes he is guilty but life imprisonment seems a harsh punishment. Although, I do not know all of the facts.
He may have redeemed himself spiritually, but the court is not concerned with spiritual matters. I won’t say that the decision made here was the best decision because I’m biased about the court system myself and have actually lost all respect for it due to a situation concerning my sister…. but I will say (haha and here I speak as if it really, honestly matters..) that he is a good person. We’re all good people, though, I think. Some of us just fall farther than others when it’s our turn to stumble.
The point of sending someone to jail is for rehabilitation. If they looked at what he has been through and what he has become it would seem he as been rehabilitated. It seems like life time imprisonment which no chance of parole seems a bit steep. Although, I do not know all of the facts.
Jesus Christ is the most innocent man.Jesus is seeking the sinned people.
That is so utterly sad. The poor man. He did his time already, it seems, and why should he be punished again?
nice post keep it up.
Another reason why the system needs to be reformed. Unfortunately the court bases such decisions only based on evidence, and don’t care to look into personal history (such as history of abuse, etc) or, in this case, his current lifestyle. I wonder if there’s a way to help him. It’s a shame that he isn’given hope for a second chance.
Ramadan Mubarak for the Barber
Allah and the Angel of Death have blessed him with life for a real reason, in which not even prison could condemn him.
Inshallah he will need the experience of life at such odds to establish the basis of his reason in the prison system.
Great article. Very well written.
Edward– If you were as efficacious as you were dramatic, it would be done already. As far as barber dude goes, if they locked him up for life with no possibility of parole, he must have done something truly awful. Hell, pedophiles get off early. If your barber had say… I don’t know, set an old woman on fire after raping her, I’d think 7 years of cutting hair in freedom wouldn’t be nearly enough in the way of punishment. You don’t know what he did– his sentence might very well be warranted.
I am ashamed at how quickly people commenting on this blog jumped to the conclusion that this guy murdered someone to warrant getting a life sentence without parole. I think that in and of itself goes to show how disconnected society is from the “justice system” and the prison system (or, as the government calls it, “correctional facilities”, which clearly indicates that the idea behind imprisonment is rehabilitatio and reform. There are many people who have been imprisoned without parole and even handed the death penalty for doing less.
It’s truly sad that this guy lost his freedom after escaping a life of poverty and violence and becoming a productive member of society, only to have it snatched away from him. I hope that he can find comfort in the knowledge that he discovered his mistakes early enough to find some happiness and enjoy some of his life before having it all taken away from him again.
This one is interesting, b/c if his crime was vicious then as S-Moniker pointed out the punishment may have been warranted. Reading the blog we’re only presented with half the story, that is of the ‘reformed barber’; perhaps some of the repliers should consider the family of the victim or the victim if him/her/they are still alive.
Also its a slippery slope in terms of punishment,crime and the law. If a man who has committed a crime that merits severe punishment, such as life in prison, is exonerated on the basis that he claims rehabilitation (even if that is substantiated by citizens or evidence of voluntary commitment). How can the law differentiate him from another man making the same claim but who is not actually rehabilitated?
The other thing is, we can blame society for its poor construction, ineptness and so on…but when are we going to take responsibility for our actions? However, I won’t disagree with the mention that prisons should be rehabilitative (…in theory they are, just ask your government ;)). The reality is that they aren’t, but what are we doing to change it? 98% of people just don’t care enough to do anything about it.
I think it’s sad that your old barber guy, who used to be a gangster and got into fights and all…managed to put everything behind, but let his past catch up with him again. Of course I’m sure he must have done something really bad, but reformed people should know their mistakes already that’s why they stopped being that way.
It’s sad.
But I like the post.
I think this is a sad… very sad story with no happy ending. It is not likely that he will gt out nor is it likely that he has the money (aka Lindsay Lowen or Nicole Richie) to get him out on some sweet deal…
But I also have to say this: what comes around, goes around (and that goes for all of us). He did allot when he was doing his dirt and it caught up to him. He probably know this better than anyone typing a comment on this story.
He got a chance at least to be with his children and influence many (including his children) in a very positive way. He might be able to do the same thing in jail.
If Paris Hilton is reading this, maybe you can do what you said you would do after leaving prison and be more helpful to those who don’t have.
He found God. And God will take care of him whether he’s in jail or out.
God saved him for a reason. Who knows how many people changed their lives because of this man’s testimony. And who knows how many people will draw closer to God because of this man’s light. I pray he continues to be a light wherever he goes. Thanks for sharing.
The Jean Valjean fallacy only serves to hurt… once a criminal always a criminal is definitely not the truth!
sigh* arrested for something that happened 10 years ago? man, that’s really bad.
Let him out
Why did he get arrested only now?
And cant you get someone to talk to the family?
i mean, get them to meet him.
If he’s a changed person, what for put him back in jail?
Without tragedies like this (if what you say is true), without the past coming back to haunt the redeemed man, no real deterrance can be said to exist. Jean Valjean is a tragic character and really a myth. A person who chooses to ruin the lives of others for a protracted period of their life and then sees the light when they’re older (when it’s harder to out run the cops) still has it coming to them; if not, there really is no justice in the world.
Those who choose to feel deeply about a man suffering this particular kind of tragedy (when there are so many out there to choose from - murder victims in Juarez, victims of gang violence , etc) are stuck in the paradigm of the tale of the prodigal son : you can waste yourself and parasitically live off others, but, if in the end you say you love God, everything will be okay.
How is it a tragedy that he’s innocent and having his freedom taken from him when he did the same to countless innocent people himself? That sounds like poetic justice.
I guess this is how miracles work, he got two chances to survive and now he’s going into jail. Maybe he might be let out, or maybe he won’t.
There isn’t much for common people like us to do, though I know his family might be grieving right now..
Yes, maybe we should write a petition. But when it has something to deal with the government, they don’t listen to us very much now do they?
It’s sad that his efforts to redeem himself was not recognized. This is one of the major flaws of almost every ruling government. Before imprisoning a person, the least we could all do is take a look at the person’s life and try to balance between their merits and mistakes. We’re not perfect. And that, is a flaw shared by all of us.
hey awesome post, intense too.
You write poetically bro. verynice.
It’s kinda sad. The area I live in will soon be a gang infested area. With thugs running around with knives stabbing each other because they think it’s “cool.”
Even if they were told it’s a crap life they would continue because of gang culter is endorsed by musicians and the media.
i believe that to every good or bad that we do, there is (are) consequence(s). we were not there when he was in that situation where he was implicated so we can’t tell how innocent or guilty he is. but one way or another, what we did and what we are doing at present will always have end results, good or bad.
That was a pretty good read. I feel bad for the guy… Why couldn’t he get a parole? Or something? Maybe house arrest?
Since he had reformed, putting him in the coolers for a crime committed years ago wasnt only unfair, it smacked of a failure to realise the fact that he had come clean and was a positive leader to the society around him. The fact that he had managed to turn around the kids in the neighbourhoood meant that this man was more useful in the outside world that in the coolers. Its a fact that the prosecutors never thought of that!
I am sure this is not an end of the story…
Great post.
the so-called “justice-system” is anything but what the name would suggest… just goes to show that man is simply incapable of being just!
The judge should have had a margin of appreciation, and base his ruling on the entire behavoiur of the person.
WHAT KIND OF STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS PERMITS CONDAMNATION TEN YEARS AFTER THE DEED!??
Indonesia Tourism
Interesting story. Life is just like that.
Thats a tragic story. I can’t imagine growing up in that environment. It just doesn’t sit right not taking into consideration environment and current life rehabilitation when sentencing someone. Thats what is messed up with mandatory sentences for certain crimes. You have to use judgement to judge.
Great piece of writing
It upset me alot.
Dan, did you ever try to find out detail about this guy?
*I* am innocent. Still defending my innocense, that is.
The moral of the story is, turn your life around before it’s too late. After a murder is too late. Ask the victims family how great of a guy your barber is. He may have made orphans out of children. He took a son from his mother. He should have been punished sooner. He was lucky to get the 10 free years while his victim was dead.
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http://www.tsos20.wordpress.com
Some mistakes we never stop paying for.
aaarrggh. i hate what happened to the guy. damn justice system. same goes for my country as well. aarrgghh.
I haven’t read all the responses, so sorry if I’m repeating something already spoken…
My first thought is that he paid a lot of “dues” with being beaten with a baseball bat, stabbed and almost killed. He faced those consequences of his choices, and survived. Another thought is that if he was even partially responsible for the death of another, that other person had no second chance…
Different people make different choices with the same upbringing. I believe all things happen for a reason. He did make his life better, he began teaching the younger ones a better way, and now he’s in prison for his earlier choices. I think people should follow their intuition if they feel they can do something to free this person, if enough people feel he should be free.
BUT if that isn’t the case, if such actions don’t result in his freedom, then consider that prison is exactly where he needs to be for the cultivation of not only his own “soul,” but what better place to endeavor to teach others a better way? How many positive influences do they have in those places? Maybe this was “God’s” purpose for him, why he was allowed to return to this life (from his near-death experience). What would he choose, if he had a choice over death or prison? Again, consider that maybe this is why he was given a “second life.”
Look at all the people even just right here reading about him, and the consequences of his earlier choices…possibly changing young minds for the better.
In a cool book called “The Celestine Prophecy,” a guy followed what he felt was his “intuition,” and it landed him in jail. So he thought he must have made the wrong choice, but he soon discovered that in jail was exactly where he needed to be
No doubt our society needs a major overhaul, so many things need to change for the better…and we will change them, in the right time. Until then, we should endeavor to fight against injustice and stand up for what is good and right in our minds/hearts. But we should also accept that which we cannot change in this moment. The Universe is wise, even if we can’t understand or see the good in it right now, or see only bad in it, all things happen for a good reason. And we can test this theory by looking at our own lives, and seeing how many things that happened that seemed very bad turned out to ultimately work out well for us. If this man truly turned his life around, he will continue to do good in his “second life,” even in prison.
Peace,
Dove
good one…
but i believe, in the book of justice a crime is seen as a crime whether it was committed past / present….
but on the other hand, a lot of digging up can turn that life sentence into freedom…. wish him luck!
so. barber is the most innocent man?
Sorry to hear that man. And that totally sucks dude, no matter how much you have changed, your past will still haunt you, and worst…you get arrested. Pretty f**ked up right here…
The good side (if any), God is in him and he with Him…I’m pretty sure he confessed (to God) and is forgiven, in God’s eyes, he is clean. I am pretty sure your good ‘ol barber has no guilt. All the best to him…
Best blog entry I have read in a long time.
That is a real shame
…it’s sad to see how governments can accuse an innocent man, and for something that happened years ago! It just doesn’t seem right, especially after your old barber had redeemed himself and started a new life… I hope he finds peace in his mind and heart.
I personally think that half of his battle is won. He escaped from himself. And that is commendable. I wish I knew such a wonderful person.
Wow. Did some of you actually read the comments you posted? I particularly like the one “an innocent man goes to jail and it’s the governments fault”. Interesting. Any of you bloggers go down to your local prison and meet some of the criminals? You should, it’s an eye opener. Almost all the crooks there will say they are innocent.
I know nothing about this ‘reformed’ barber who has supposedly already ‘paid’ his dues (not sure what standard is used here) by spending 4 months in the hospital.
Kids, remember, all actions have consequences. You know nothing about this barber except that he cut hair during the day. The author here only meet him what, once a month for 30 minutes? Not even remotely enough time to really get to know the man. Another thing to consider (since the facts are absent and everything under the sun seems to be considered here), most criminals have fronts i.e. store clerk, barber etc.
To those who suggested that his upbringing caused this is very week. It is saying that you are not responsible for your actions and behavior when in fact, that is exactly what we are solely responsible for. Think about it.
I am not without feeling or compassion though I’m sure it seems so in this post. However, that perspective has already be blogged about. I’m presenting a different one.
In closing, I must add that prison serves many purposes; confinement, reform, retribution, punishment are all included.
this reminds me of HERNANDO TÉLLEZ’s short story “Just Lather, That’s All.”
It’s sad that we live in a world where ‘rehabilitation’ is determined by the government, instead of the measure of a person’s character. So often, people are let out of prison, only to commit more crime. Yet people who have truly shown to have a change of heart and made a difference are treated without mercy just because they haven’t served their time in a pre-determined place.
Your barber friend was redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ. In God’s eyes, he IS innocent. Still, there are always consequences for sin. Even Christians sin, and whether it be what society would consider a ‘major’ or a ‘minor’ thing, we still need redemption for each and every one. Being redeemed is one thing, but making amends is another. If I sin against someone, I need to repent to God AND that person, and ask forgiveness. Some sin has multiple consequences. A person who commits murder, or trafficks in drugs, and then turns and gives their life to Christ IS FORGIVEN but still must deal with the consequences for that sin life. Prison sentences must be served. Jesus will be there with him through it all.
At first I agreed with the new barber - not that he’s 100% innocent but that he’d gotten his life in order …
Remember Sara Jane Olson (from the Patty Hearst times), who was known as Kathy Soliah during her days in the SLA, fled when the bomb charges were filed and eluded police for some 24 years, living much of that time in Minneapolis, where she married a physician, was active in church, local theater and volunteer work and drove her children to soccer matches.
She was located, tried and given 14 years. Many felt that since she’d gone on to create a good life for herself that she should be free.
I guess it’s “do the crime, serve the time” - no matter what you do afterward. You could have people thinking that if they murdered someone, it was okay because they could turn their lives around - and serve their self imposed sentence outside prison walls and then declare themselves innocent. It doesn’t work that way.
The Force is strong in this author.
Of all the replies, only two that I read seem to have sensed, dimply, that something major is missing in this story; everyone else has rushed to judgement.
What was missing? The charges and evidence levelled against the barber. His own admission (or lack of it).
Maybe, if all the commenters had heard the *whole* story, they would feel differently. Maybe they wouldn’t, I dunno. But they still should have held out for the rest of the truth before rushing to judgement.
Some people don’t think the charges and evidence, the things he did in the past, are the relevant thing. Some people think that people who have changed their lives shouldn’t be punished. Some people don’t believe in punishment.
“Rushing” to judgment isn’t as knee-jerk as it seems when the respondents feel that they actually have all the information that is relevant to them.
Omg that is a sad story, if you think about it. I mean prison is supposed to be about rehabilitation and he was obviously rehabilitated, but the Government doesn’t care about that they are out for punishment.
That was the same thing I was thinking, Water Traveller, ppl were just responding to the information they were given, expressing their views per that information. The author didn’t seem wishy-washy regarding the barber’s participation in the crime. The way it was conveyed, it seemed that was a given.
Actually, I don’t think it can just be about rehabilitation, there should be consequences for harming others, who have rights and freeddoms that should be respected and upheld. If it was just about rehab, there are plenty of people who could kill just one person (wife, husband, boss…
and be fine, and, um, fully “rehabilitated” thereafter, even being a model citizen thereafter. Many who have gotten away with murder have proved that to be true. Nah, there should definitely be consequences.
But the real answer, in my view, to truly making this a better world, and having a lot fewer ppl in those places is to teach children early on respect and love for THEMSELVES, self-esteem. If we’d nip that in the bud when ppl are children, we’d have much finer adult ppl. When you care about yourself, you tend to not harm others. We don’t seem to get that. Thinking kids will grow out of it or “get over it.” That doesn’t happen. They become adults who don’t give a damn about others, because they don’t give a damn about themselves. That’s what needs to change.
Dan,
Great story. Very valid point.
I had written something similar here http://guldasta.wordpress.com/2007/07/31/sanjay-dutt-gets-punishment/
I continue to pray that society learns more about tolerance and forgiveness.
- G
Prison is not always about rehabilitation. “We do not save the neck we hang, but others by it” Plato said. We do not rehabilitate those we send away from life or to death. Nor do we hold much hope in rehabbing quite a few varieties of criminal. We just want them to go away for awhile.
Their chances have come and gone.
Sure it’s sad, but being murdered is probably pretty sad too. Does anyone reading this know how they’d feel having their life ended by murder? How your family would feel? How the last thing you’d see on earth is someone murdering you? How you’d feel knowing you were always “that person who got murdered”?
Oh wait I forgot, the guy cut hair and told people to avoid gang violence while charging them $15.50 for a cut.