Equal Justice Matters Wall (P)
Parker, Ira
Penton, Kenneth
Pettus, Nathan
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IRA PARKER
Parker had a series of prior convictions for drug-related crimes committed during his teenage years, during which he says he made “friends with bad company” and was influenced by “peer pressure, alcohol, and drugs.”
Parker, who is Black, was born partially deaf in both ears and says he has always relied heavily on his family and others who know about his disability to help him understand things. He was first convicted of sale or purchase of cocaine for acts committed when he was 16 years old. He was sentenced for this crime, as well as two additional charges of sale or purchase of cocaine and one charge of battery of a law enforcement officer committed when he was 17, in 1989 at age 18. The following year, he was convicted of possession of cocaine and of being a felon in possession of a weapon, both offenses he had committed when he was 18.
Parker has been in prison for 23 years, during which he says he has matured. He told the ACLU, “When I was a child, I talked like a child. I thought like a child. I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put childish ways behind me.” Since his incarceration, he has surrounded himself with positive influences such as his family, which he says have made him “become a better person inside and outside.” Sadly, since his imprisonment his father, mother, brother, and two sisters have passed away. He says he remains close with his son, daughter, three sisters, nieces, nephews, and cousins, and works to set a positive example for them and his two grandchildren.
Parker was recently transferred to a prison far from home. “It is very hard for me here,” he told the ACLU, “’Cause I cannot obtain [a] visit from my family…I have a lot of time here, I can only go to the law library once or maybe twice a month for one hour for each day.” He spoke of missing life outside the prison walls: “It is beauty of life, that you will never be able to see again and the thought of you never being able to spend those moments that only happen once in a chance of a lifetime with the people you love and care about.”
Now 42, Parker says he hopes for an opportunity to prove how much he has changed and have a second chance at being a part of society. Prior to his incarceration, the highest level of education he had completed was eighth grade. In prison, he has earned his GED and participated in the vocational trade and literature programs, and he has worked in food service. He spends his time educating himself, reading, and analyzing the law. He told the ACLU, “I made a commitment to Father and Mother…I will make drugs my enemy and stay out of jail and prison…I have a reason to live and be happy. No burden. No reason to mess with drugs. I will not disappoint myself.”
Click here to view original ACLU article (Page 72).
KENNETH PENTON
According to Penton, in January 2005, after walking out following an argument with his uncle, he later returned home when no one else was present to retrieve his clothes and work boots. He says he came across two guns that his cousins had brought over, took them, and left. Penton was charged with armed burglary (because he stole weapons), two counts of grand theft of a firearm, and two counts of possession of a firearm by a convicted felon. Penton pleaded guilty to the possession and theft counts and proceeded to trial on the armed burglary charge. In May 2006, he was convicted and sentenced to life without parole for armed burglary. He was 22 years old.
Penton was sentenced to LWOP under Florida’s Prison Releasee Reoffender Act. According to Penton, his uncle repeatedly wrote to the court, asking that his nephew not be sent to prison and instead receive much-needed drug treatment, but the sentence was mandatory under the law. “It is hard to explain how horrible it felt to be standing there and receive a life sentence for next to nothing,” Penton said. “It is the worst experience I have ever felt.”
Penton had numerous prior convictions for crimes he committed at ages 16, 17, 20, and 21. In 2002, he was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in prison for a string of burglaries and thefts committed over several days when he was 16 years old, resulting in convictions for four counts of burglary, two counts of grand theft, and one count of criminal mischief (for property damage) committed on August 4, 2000, and one count of burglary and one count of grand theft committed three days later. Penton pleaded no contest to misdemeanor petty theft in December 2000. In May 2001, when he was 17, Penton pleaded no contest to battery and breach of peace or disorderly conduct and was sentenced as a youthful offender to 11 months and 30 days in jail. When he was 20, Penton was convicted of felony battery (touch or strike) committed in July 2004. He was also convicted of battery, underage possession of liquor, and disorderly conduct committed a few weeks later. In 2005, Penton was convicted of grand theft of a motor vehicle, trespassing, and bribery committed on his twenty-first birthday. He says that his crimes were a result of his drug abuse. Prior to his incarceration, he had been working with his uncle on tree work and erosion control.
Penton told the ACLU that prison has been extremely difficult for him, explaining, “I feel like a dead man walking. My life seems over, that there really isn’t no point to live.” He said he was “young and dumb” at the time of his crimes and that he has since learned patience. “I made a bad decision at 20 years old,” he said. “I’ve grown up over these last eight and a half years; please don’t make me die in prison for a mistake I made that my victim didn’t even want me to go to prison for!”
Penton has been incarcerated for seven years and now is 29 years old. He says he has tried to reform himself but struggles to gain access to many rehabilitation programs in prison on account of his sentence. He participates in his prison’s Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous programs and has taken parenting and wellness classes. If Penton were released, he wants to live with his family and help provide for his mother.936 He said it breaks his heart knowing that he has left his family when they need him.
Click here to view original ACLU article (Page 134).
Kenneth Penton
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NATHAN PETTUS
A police officer with the Jefferson Parish Sheriff’s Office was working a security detail at the store and testified at trial that he moved to stand between the exit doors to the store when he was radioed that a man was observed concealing three belts beneath his jacket. When Pettus observed the uniformed officer, he abandoned the belts in the store before exiting into the mall. The officer then ran after Pettus and Tasered him before arresting him in the adjacent mall area. According to the store’s loss prevention officer, the belts were valued at $301 or $307 in total, but Pettus claims that their aggregate value was under the $300 felony threshold. Though Pettus argues that he was guilty of attempted theft at most, he was convicted at trial of theft of goods valued at over $300. Pettus was initially sentenced to two years in prison, the maximum sentence for the crime of which he was convicted, but he was resentenced to LWOP under Louisiana’s habitual offender law. He was sentenced to LWOP as a fourth-strike offender because of three prior convictions: possession of cocaine, obstruction of justice, and bank robbery. He was subsequently convicted of simple unarmed robbery in December 2009 for robbery of a boutique committed in April 2008. Pettus, who is white, is 33 years old.
Click here to view original ACLU article (Page 146).