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On May 30, 2019, Kenneth Oliver presents a photo published by the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation. The Californian man was released from prison after serving 23 years in prison on life sentence for a death sentence. This included eight years in solitary confinement for possessing a book written by the co-founder of a notorious prison gang. (California Department of Correctional Services and Rehabilitation via AP)
SACRAMENTO, California – A man from California was released from prison after serving 23 years of his life sentence, including eight years in solitary confinement for possession of a book written by the co-founder of a gang of notorious prison.
His lawyers say that it is inconceivable that he is about to die in jail for non-violent crimes.
Kenneth Oliver, now 52 years old, was sentenced to 29 years in prison under the California law on the condemnation of the "three strikes" for reprimands.
Voters relaxed the law in 2012 to allow life sentences only when the third strike concerns a serious or violent crime.
But Oliver was ineligible for further punishment because he had been found with alleged gang materials, including a book titled "Blood In My Eye", directed by Black Guerilla family co-founder, George Jackson, a few days ago. before his death during a bloody attempt to escape San Quentin. State Prison in 1971.
Oliver was released on Monday after Los Angeles County prosecutors withdrew their objections "in the interest of justice," and after the state's penitentiary department cleared his case of "law enforcement." gang affiliation and paid him $ 125,000 for his solitary period.
"It's almost impossible to believe that what happened to Ken happened here in California.You know, people think that it's an enlightened state and that the trouble and the duration of solitary confinement do not fit that, "Ward Johnson said. , lead counsel in the Mayer Brown case.
Oliver was arrested while driving in a stolen vehicle and pleaded guilty to taking a vehicle without authorization. A stolen handgun was later found in his hotel room, prosecutors said. It was the latest in a series of crimes dating back to an armed robbery at the age of 16.
Los Angeles County Attorney Nicol Walgren said he was impressed by Oliver's rehabilitation in prison and by preparing for a successful life outside. She called it the kind of prisoner that voters envisioned when they eased the law of the three strikes.
"Ken's 50-year sentence was much longer than that of the rapists and murderers," said Michael Romano, director and founder of Stanford Law School's Three Strike and Justice Projects. "There should be some proportionality."
Voters agreed when they decided to release nearly 3,000 inmates from the third strike, Romano said. Still, he estimated that 200 to 500 other qualified inmates were still incarcerated, largely because they could not afford a legal team that was working for free on behalf of Oliver.
"I'm really not completely aware of the situation," said Oliver 24 hours after his release, and then after the celebration with his father, a university dean in Georgia, for a dinner at the Cheesecake Factory . "I feel the time has passed but I'm trying not to be negative about it."
He is currently involved in a transitional housing program and plans to become a paralegal, helping others through social justice programs while reconnecting with his three adult children.
He did not understand being sent to solitary confinement because he owned a book available in most campus libraries, but spent his time studying law and suing federal courts who had finally contributed to his release.
"You're unicellular most of the time, and every time you come out of the cell or are escorted out, you have to undress and bend and cough," Oliver said of his lonely time. The exercises lasted three hours a day in a kennel six feet by nine.
"Some people go crazy over there," he said. "I have chosen to read and try to find a way out of there and not let this circumstance define me."
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