Darrick Alexander

Darrick with his mother

Name: Darrick Arnold Alexander  158382

Age:  50 (BDay= 4-10-1965)

Address: John C. Burke Correctional Center 900 S. Madison Street

Waupun , Wisconsin - 53963

Age when crime Committed : 19

Years in prison : 30 •years plus

Convicted of : First Degree Homicide Sentence:, parole eligible life

Number of parole hearings: over 20 hearings

reasons for denial: insufficient time served & unreasonable risk to the public

I have stable residence, 3 actual employments, plan to attend college, positive psychological evaluations on file from DOC staff supporting my release, associate of arts degree (TJW GreenBay) , Fork lift

certification, case management certification, group facilitator trainer, certified painter, public speaker training, God Loving and people loving with a spiritual disposition. Plan to live with my sister

in Kenosha on a temporary basis and remain a core member of FFUP.

Here is excerpt from 2011 recommendation by UW Law school student, Describing Mr Alexander's crime. In the letter below, he goes on to describe Darrick's remarkable accomplishments and clear readiness for parole:."We believe Mr. Alexander is an excellent candidate for parole or a low deferment with an endorsement to the Wisconsin Correctional Center System. Although this Commission's last decision firmly endorsed off grounds assignment, Mr. Alexander has not received such an assignment to date.

The Program Review Committee has concisely described Mr. Alexander's offense as follows: "According to the transcripts, a fight between the offender and the victim started in the house and was stopped by some bystanders. The offender left the house while the victim was being held back. As the offender was walking down the street, a witness told the offender to watch out because the victim has a bottle and was coming toward him. The offender turned around to face the victim and the stabbing occurred." As previously acknowledged by this Commission, Mr. Alexander has taken responsibility for his actions and has expressed the intent to live a positive, crime free lifestyle. He is also truly remorseful and seeks forgiveness from Robert Brantley, the Brantley family, his own family, community and God."

  UW lawschool recommendation on PDF

              UNIVERSITY 0F WISCONSIN  LAW SCHOOL

To:Acting Chairman Steven Landreman

Earned Release review Commission of Wisconsin

July 7, 2011

I am a University of Wisconsin law student working in the Legal Assistance for Institutionalized Persons (LAIP) program under the supervision of Attorney Byron Lichstein. This letter serves as an update to the letter dated November 22, 2010 that we wrote on behalf of Darrick Alexander for his previous appearance before the Commission. We believe Mr. Alexander is an excellent candidate for parole or a low deferment with an endorsement to the Wisconsin Correctional Center System. Although this Commission's last decision firmly endorsed off grounds assignment, Mr. Alexander has not received such an assignment to date.

The Program Review Committee has concisely described Mr. Alexander's offense as follows: "According to the transcripts, a fight between the offender and the victim started in the house and was stopped by some bystanders. The offender left the house while the victim was being held back. As the offender was walking down the street, a witness told the offender to watch out because the victim has a bottle and was coming toward him. The offender turned around to face the victim and the stabbing occurred." As previously acknowledged by this Commission, Mr. Alexander has taken responsibility for his actions and has expressed the intent to live a positive, crime free lifestyle. He is also truly remorseful and seeks forgiveness from Robert Brantley, the Brantley family, his own family, community and God.

Since his last hearing, Mr. Alexander has continued to work at Badger State Industries (BSI) as an upholsterer where he received a promotion to the highest pay level and has continued to receive outstanding performance reviews with the highest possible score. Throughout his time at Oakhill, Mr. Alexander has held trusted positions, first as a

custodian in social services, then as an office clerk at the school, and continuing at his current position at BSI. Additionally he has recently received his forklift driving

certification and also completed the employability skills requirement for the pre-release module. Mr. Alexander thus has been exposed to many different types of work and will be very flexible in taking advantage of whatever work opportunities are available to him upon release. His long term goal is to start his own upholstery business as he has gained very valuable experience and in-depth knowledge of the industry through his work at BSI. He has begun writing a business plan in anticipation of starting this business. Overall, Mr. Alexander's conduct over the last ten years has been commendable, in that he has used his time while incarcerated to mature and improve himself. Not only has he attained further education, completed AODA, completed numerous certifications, gained valuable vocational skills and experience and excelled at his employment, but he has also progressed personally. Upon first being incarcerated, Mr. Alexander was a young and confused kid who made poor life decisions, was selfish and did not think about the consequences of his actions. After 26 years of personal reflection and growth, Mr. Alexander has learned the hard way of the errors of his thinking and actions as a youth. In place of his youthful confusion and selfishness, Mr. Alexander has grown to become optimistic, patient, and now knows and appreciates the importance of having respect not only for other people but also for himself. He now embraces a more positive lifestyle filled with love for his family, himself, and his relationship with God.

Additionally, Mr. Alexander's supervised release plan has evolved and become more concrete. Initially upon release, he plans to live with his sister, Clarice, in Kenosha and to continue to strengthen his family relationships with his mother and other siblings. He has also been in contact with Mr. John Givens from Madison Urban Ministries (MUM) regarding post-release support opportunities. Mr. Alexander is slated to enter two programs offered through MUM upon release, Circles of Support and Voices Beyond Bars. The objective of Circles of Support, as you may know, is to work with formerly incarcerated men and women who seek help to successfully transition their lives from prison to the community. That objective is met partially by connecting former inmates with positive role models in the community, known as Core Team Members. Generally there are three to five Core Team Members who meet with the newly released inmate once per week to address human resource concerns with an emphasis on living a productive crime free lifestyle. The second program, Voices Beyond Bards is a group of people that work together to provide a network for the newly released inmates which addresses concern such as transportation, housing, employment, the reduction of recidivism, and treatment needs to assure that the newly released inmate has a reasonable transition from prison to the community. Mr. Alexander is thankful that

upon release he will be able to focus his time and energy on himself and establishing his place as a productive member of society.

One example of his commitment to giving back to the community can be seen through his participation in Warden Diedre Morgan's Inmate Panel. The Inmate Panel involves a question and answer session with high school and college students as well as human resource agencies regarding topics such as the inner workings of prison, inmate histories, and descriptions of programs that are available to inmates. Furthermore, Mr. Alexander now appreciates the value of an education and looks forward to attaining his Bachelor of Arts degree in human relations in the future. He knows that with freedom comes great responsibilities and hard work, which he looks forward to upon his release.

Sincerely,

LAIP, Frank J. Remington Center

Amber Cardenas Law Student

Frank J. Remington Center/University of Wisconsin Law School 975 Bascom Mall Madison, WI 53706-1399,608/262-1002 FAX: 608/263-3380

Darrick Tells story

See Darrick's post " Is Rehabilitation a Consideration?" Read Darrisk's essay: "Is Rehabiitation considered?"

See our main campaign blog: www.secondchancewi.org