The Happiest Day Of My Life Was Getting My Freedom Back
Steemit has users from all over the world and some forget that the laws and governments are different in each area. I live in the United States of America and even here although we are considered a free country meaning we have many freedoms there are still many laws and many problems with the policing and judicial system. The American criminal justice system houses more than 2.3 million people. Made up of 1,719 state prisons and 102 federal prisons, 3,163 local jails, and 76 Indian Country jails as well as in military prisons, immigration detention facilities, and for those under 18 years of age there are over 900 juvenile correctional facilities.
The Happiest Day Of My Life Started Off With One Of The Most Unhappy Days
I like many other Americans fell into the revolving door of the corrupt judicial system. When I had just turned 18 I was arrested for possessing a small amount of cannabis in the state of Florida, meanwhile in the same country other states like California and Colorado have legalized possession but not here. So off to jail I went I didn't spend long on this first arrest only about 3 days in the county jail and I was released with a court date. A month later I entered the court room and was sentenced to misdemeanor probation and random drug testing. This seemed simple enough not get arrested for any new crimes and pass drug tests for 6 months. All my friends told me this was the biggest trap of the judicial system that many people fail probation and are stuck in jail, but I explained that was because they are criminals and probably commit other crimes. I was simply going to stay out of trouble and just focus on school.
About three months into the probation I was doing well, I had passed all my random drug tests and had not gone around any illegal activities and tried to stay away from those I knew were getting into trouble. Then one night I was walking through my apartment complex, which at the time was a College Party neighborhood (because you had to be enrolled in a University to be allowed to rent in that neighborhood) when I discovered a pretty big party going on. When I walked into the apartment I recognized some of the people from classes or just walking by on campus and began to say hey to everyone. I made my way to the keg of Budweiser and filled a red solo cup up with some beer.
I was only about halfway through my first cup when the cops came in, this was not the first house party I had attended where the cops arrived to shut things down, but in the past they simply asked everyone to leave. Not this time the cops started walking up to each person and asking for ID's. I quickly put my cup of beer down and tried to walk past the cop and leave but he stopped me and asked for my identification as well. I said "Why I wasn't even drinking" but the lie wasn't fooling this officer he could smell the alcohol on my breath and demanded my ID. After I gave it to him he smiled and said "Now I see why you said you were not drinking your only 18 sorry buddy but I have to write you a ticket and court date for underage drinking". Normally it would have just ended there but when the cop researched my information into the computer to issue my ticket he discovered that I was on probation and that's when the real horror story began.
Off to jail I went with a new charge of underage drinking my probation had been violated and if your unfamiliar with the United States Judicial System this is a Big No No. At this point you lose many rights you have no right to get released before court you have no right to even pay a bond to be released you are stuck in jail until your court date. To make matters worse I was arrested just after the last court dates were issued so I had to spend over a month incarcerated even before my court date. During this time I was housed in the jail with inmates charged with small crimes like theft and trespassing all the way up to the big crimes like murder and rape. I passed the time working out, reading books, and socializing with other inmates. Then the court date came I have never felt so much anxiety I had no clue what my fate would be. I ended up being faced with a huge dilemma my attorney informed me the prosecutor was offering 2 options.
- Three years probation and random drug testing
- Three more months in county jail.
After I discovered how easy it was to fail probation and how server the consequence are I chose option 2.
Finally The Happiest Day Of My Life
The day of my release from jail was the by far The Happiest Day Of My Life. I walked outside a new man I had a new found love for life and to never take anything for granted, especially good cooking.
Why I Love Steemit
I love steemit because there is no background check there is no judgement what we have done in our pasts does not define who we are today and who we can become. Steemit does not care what crimes you have committed it gives everyone freedom and opportunity.
My Story My Truth
This is my story of the happiest day in my life a response to a post by
"
my entry for #mystory-mytruth contest by
https://steemit.com/contest/@everchris/contest-my-story-my-truth-the-happiest-day-of-my-life
My Story My Truth: The Happiest Day Of My Life – My High School Graduation
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