Prison Professors With Michael Santos

From the book Prepare: What Defendants Should Know about Court, Sentencing, and Prison Chapter 11: What Should I Know About Staff Hierarchy in the Bureau of Prisons Get Your free copy by visiting PrisonProfessors.com or sending an email to Team@PrisonProfessors.com     Navigating the bureaucracy of prison requires at least a cursory knowledge of the key players and their roles. This section provides a basic overview to consider for those going inside. Bureaucratic Structure: Our nation incarcerates more people per capita than any other nation on earth. Millions of people have gone through the system, and thousands of people work in corrections. It’s run like any other bureacracy, modeled in a hierarchical formation. The positions are more important than the individual, and the individuals rely upon program statements and policy statements to govern operations. The organizational hierarchy is clearly defined and much more formal. Staff members that work alongside each other do not address each other with first

Visit PrisonProfessors.com to get a free download of our book:     Prepare: What Defendants Should Know about Court, Sentencing, and Prison   Send an email: Team@PrisonProfessors.com or call 949-205-6056 for more information       What Should I Know About Prison Transfers?       Based upon the number of minimum-security camps in the federal prison system, we estimate that less than 20% of the federal prison population gets the privilege of voluntarily surrendering. Being able to surrender to prison is a perk. Ordinarily, when judges sentence people to serve less than 10-year terms, and the person does not have a history of violence or escape attempts, the Bureau of Prisons will classify that person as “minimum-security.” Judges may allow those people to report to prison on their own volition. In the systems, it’s known as “voluntary surrender.” There is an advantage to surrendering to prison voluntarily. It’s less stressful. Rather than mixing with hundreds of other prisoners, many of whom may be intimidati

In most cases, after a person enters a guilty plea, or after a jury finds a person guilty, the judge sets a sentencing date. Those sentencing dates may be extended if the person is cooperating with authorities. Sometimes a person doesn’t get sentenced for several years after the guilty plea. In most cases, a person will face a sentencing hearing within a few months of pleading guilty. On the other hand, our team has worked with clients that waited 10 years before they had resolution. They committed a crime, faced civil proceedings, waited through criminal proceedings, cooperated with authorities. From the time of the crime, and the time the sentence was imposed, 10 years passed. Every case is different. To prepare for sentencing, the defense attorney will prepare a memorandum. That memorandum will summarize the defendant’s conduct, include points of law, and offer reasons why the defendant deserves leniency. The prosecutor will submit a memorandum. In most cases, the prosecutor will argue for a harsher senten

In the previous chapter we discussed the structure of PSR reports and how a Statement of Reasons can help some people overcome problematic PSRs. Probation officers prepare the PSR specifically for the sentencing judge. But the PSR follows the person all the way through the journey. In fact, our team would argue that the PSR has a bigger influence after the sentence is imposed. After all, a judge likely knows a great deal about the case. If a defendant engineered an effective sentence-mitigation strategy, as we described in chapter six of this program, the judge will also know a great deal about the person and the influences that led him into the problem. Further, an attorney will likely be there to advocate on the person’s behalf. After the judge imposes the sentence, on the other hand, the defendant will not have an attorney. He will need to advocate on his own behalf. And the PSR will be an essential tool. If the person worked intelligently by engineering an effective sentence-mitigation strategy, he may su

What Should I Know About the Pre-sentence Investigation Report? After a person pleads guilty or is found guilty, the presentence investigation will be the next step. For more details, check out Rule 32 of the U.S. Rules of Criminal Procedure in the federal system. Each state system has a similar rule in the book of criminal procedure. In federal cases, probation officers conduct these investigations to help sentencing judges and others evaluate the background of the person. The investigation culminates with an all-important presentence investigation report (PSI or PSR—used interchangeably). The report will include recommendations, based on guidelines and the probation officer’s opinion. Sentencing judges will consider recommendations from the PSR when imposing sentence. Besides the importance of the PSR for sentencing, people should pay close attention to the process because the report also will play a significant role in the person’s life if he is sentenced to prison.  Information in the PSR influences how a

When is the right time think about a sentence-mitigation plan? Answering that question reminds me of an old saying about the best time to plant an oak tree. I heard a speaker ask that question to members of his audience. Predictably, audience members ventured a guess. In the morning? In the winter? In the summer? No one had a clue. Pausing for dramatic effect, the speaker then gave the answer. The best time to plant an oak tree was 20 years ago. The second-best time is today. We could say the same thing about a sentence-mitigation plan. Too often, a defendant doesn’t do anything to prepare for the sentencing hearing. It’s understandable. Many defendants don’t think of themselves as criminals. Regardless of what type of activity brought them to the attention of authorities, they think that they’re different, immune from the law enforcement. They may not know anyone that has been through the criminal justice system, and they cannot conceive of themselves going into the system.   How do you see yourself?   B

What Are Post-Conviction Proceedings? In the United States, we like to say that a person is presumed innocent until there has been a finding of guilt. Defendants don’t always feel that presumption of guilt. A criminal charge may result in being ostracized by friends, loss of employment, and even loss of housing. Those collateral consequences make a difficult situation worse. From a legal perspective, life officially changes after a conviction. Prior to the conviction, the defendant may have gone through a “pre-trial services” program. While in the “pre-trial phase,” a judicial employee or probation officer may lightly oversee the defendant, imposing light restrictions. As an example, rules may require a person in the pre-trial phase to request permission before traveling outside of a specific jurisdiction. With a criminal conviction, more formal proceedings will follow. For felony cases, a pre-sentence investigation and ensuing report will follow the conviction.   Pre-Sentence Investigation Report (PSI or PSR

What Are Criminal Justice Proceedings? Hopefully, once you find and hire a lawyer, you’ll have a trusted advocate. When it comes to criminal matters, unfortunately, finding and hiring a criminal defense attorney is only the start of a long and arduous path. The more a defendant learns about the challenges ahead, and the better he understands how he can prepare, the more likely he will be to conquer struggles that complicate life for so many that experience the criminal justice system. I don’t have precise statistics in front of me. Still, I don’t think anyone will argue that if federal prosecutors bring criminal charges against individuals, a sentencing hearing will follow more than six out of ten times. Before banging the gavel to signal finality, the judge frequently says:   “I sentence you to the custody of the Attorney General.”   Several years ago, a federal judge in the Southern District of California invited our team to lead a panel discussion for other judges in his district. They wanted us to help

How to Find a Lawyer When I was 20 years old, I saw the movie Scarface, with Al Pacino. The idea of trafficking in cocaine looked exciting. I called acquaintances I had in Miami. Before long, I orchestrated sales in multiple-kilogram quantities. I coordinated people to transport cocaine across the country. Foolishly, I convinced me that since I didn’t handle the cocaine myself, I wasn’t really breaking the law. As a precaution, long before I got caught, I hired a criminal defense lawyer. But I didn’t have any idea on how what questions I ask to hire a lawyer. As a result, I gave hundreds of thousands of dollars to a lawyer who told me what I wanted to hear, rather than what I needed to hear. In my case, the result of hiring the wrong lawyer translated into a 45-year prison term. Don’t make the same mistake. Learn everything possible about the steps you should take. Learn how to find the right lawyer. My partner, Justin Paperny, describes some similar challenges. He had been working as a stockbroker and he’d n

In the first chapter, we emphasized the complexities of the legal system. With myriad codes, decisions, procedures, guidelines, and jurisdictions, hiring a lawyer makes a lot of sense if a person faces any type of legal challenge. When nonexperts respond to the legal system without counsel, they can lose their rights or expose themselves to further problems.  Even experienced attorneys hire lawyers when they anticipate that they may face problems from the legal system. Since the legal system is so broad, attorneys tend to specialize in one or more practice areas. An attorney that specializes in taxation, for example, would likely know a great deal about the tax code and how to create structures that minimize liability. Yet a tax lawyer may not know much about federal criminal procedure. Likewise, a lawyer that works exclusively on sentencing matters in federal criminal court may not be the best attorney to hire if that person wants to negotiate a severance agreement with an employer. With the law, as with any

Intro: Welcome to Prison Professors podcast. I’m Michael Santos. We assist people who face court, sentencing, and prison. Visit us at PrisonProfessors.com to learn more. Call or text 949-205-6056 to connect with our team. For more info, send an email to Team@PrisonProfessors.com.   Our answer to the first question is simple: A lot! Many people that face law-enforcement challenges make decisions that exacerbate their problems. They don’t mean to make troubles worse. Yet if they don’t understand what’s coming, what options they have, or where to turn for information that will help them make better decisions, they’re vulnerable. Targets of criminal investigations can unwittingly talk themselves into a criminal indictment. They may eliminate opportunities for a diversion from prosecution. Or they may expose themselves to tougher sanctions. Competent legal counsel is essential. But if an individual doesn’t have any experience with the criminal law, a primer on the system may be of help, too. With more knowledge, a

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Today I interviewed Jesse Barnes for our Prison Professors podcast. Jesse’s story was so inspiring that we decided to feature him in two, back-to-back episodes. If you’re struggling with the criminal justice system, or facing a significant length of time, learn from Jesse. His episodes will appear on the podcast numbers 86 and 87. We schedule them for release on March 20 and March 21, 2018. Why is Jesse’s story so inspiring? In episode 1, Jesse tells us about the extreme hardship he experienced while growing up. He was poor. He lived with envy. He developed a mindset that convinced him of what it means to be a man. That vision, for Jesse, meant violence. He carried a gun. He would retaliate with violence if he felt that someone had disrespected him. That mindset influenced Jesse’s decisions. He broke laws that brought him into the criminal justice system when he was a teenager. By the time he was 18, authorities convicted him of a first-degree murder.  In episode 1, Jesse tells us that he went into prison wit

Today I interviewed Jesse Barnes for our Prison Professors podcast. Jesse’s story was so inspiring that we decided to feature him in two, back-to-back episodes. If you’re struggling with the criminal justice system, or facing a significant length of time, learn from Jesse. His episodes will appear on the podcast numbers 86 and 87. We schedule them for release on March 20 and March 21, 2018. Why is Jesse’s story so inspiring?  In episode 1, Jesse tells us about the extreme hardship he experienced while growing up. He was poor. He lived with envy. He developed a mindset that convinced him of what it means to be a man. That vision, for Jesse, meant violence. He carried a gun. He would retaliate with violence if he felt that someone had disrespected him. That mindset influenced Jesse’s decisions. He broke laws that brought him into the criminal justice system when he was a teenager. By the time he was 18, authorities convicted him of a first-degree murder. In episode 1, Jesse tells us that he went into prison wit

Learn about #prisnreform with @DamonWest7 who shows us how preparations during 65-year prison term leads to #success. Part 3 of 3.

Showing #prisonreform with @DamonWest7 who reveals story of success after 65-year prison term, part 2 of 3.

 Awesome to feature @damonwest7 who reveals pathway for success after 65 year prison term. Part 1 of 3.

Matthew Hagy works as a high school physical education teacher. To supplement his income, he launched an online coaching service that he promotes through Facebook, YouTube, and Instagram. Through his company, Shaping Lives, Matthew shows others how to develop themselves physically, mentally, and financially. Other people can join his network to grow. Matthew suggests that people who spend time in prison can follow his proven concept to supplement their income, while simultaneously helping others reach their highest potential.   Hagymatthew@gmail.com Visit https://www.prisonprofessors.com to learn more about steps to build a life of meaning and relevance after prison.