Tuesday, April 23, 2024

Second Chances

By John R. Byrne

Nice article by Jay Weaver in the Herald yesterday about Darryl Richardson, a man who turned his life around after being sentenced to 30 years in prison by Judge Seitz back in 2006. Richardson, whose sentence was shortened to 17 years, was released in 2021 and took advantage of the district's CARE court program. CARE stands for “Court-Assisted Re-Entry court.” The program, created by Judge Seitz and currently being overseen by Judge Williams and Judge Reid, has been operating since 2016. It helps participants, who are on supervised release, re-enter the community, connecting them with resources that help them with financial literacy, employment, and medical resources. 

Richardson recently graduated from Miami Dade College’s Culinary Institute, crediting Care Court for pushing him to succeed. I know a lot of effort goes into the program from the Court, probation, and the US Attorney and Federal Public Defender’s offices. It’s cool to hear about those efforts paying off.


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Clear proof that Judge Seitz has been incredibly harsh in sentencing throughout her career. How many others could’ve been productive members of society with a just sentence? If this guy had what it takes to succeed then the community was screwed with the stiff sentence.

Anonymous said...

Everyone deserves a second chance.