Friends--- here is an item-----FYI ********************************************************************* My name is John Hubner, I am the author of *Last Chance in Texas: The Redemption of Criminal Youth* (Random House, on the shelves as of this Tuesday. It's a book that is of special interest the Texas Committee Against the Death Penalty. I hope that doesn't sound like boilerplate, because it really is. I'm sure you know about Determinate Sentencing and the Giddings State School, where *Last Chance* is set. I'm hoping you will help me spread word about the book. It is about redemption, which turns out to be more harrowing than retribution. It proves there is an alternative to the death penalty or LWOP. And it is happening in Texas, of all places. Does that surprise you? It did me. Youth who committed capital murder and are carrying 25 to 40 year sentences are sent to the Giddings State School, where they enter the most aggressive treatment program in America. Many are released on parole after three years. *Last Chance* focuses on the Capital Offenders Group, the equivalent of graduate studies at the State School. Over a six to nine month period, 9 boys or girls meet twice a week for 3.5 hours in a soundproof room. They begin by spending 7 to 10 hours each telling their life stories. This is not easy. These kids have been horribly abused, hideously neglected. The kids turn out to be their own best therapists, pushing each other to the truth. At the end, they turn the group room into a stage and the kids and therapists reenact key scenes from a youth's life. These dramas are harrowing. Kids revert, they are really there. When the life stories have been told, the crime story cycle begins. Each youth begins with his earliest crime and ends with his committing offense, often a murder. The atmosphere in the group room is very different than it was during the life stories. This is not about what was done to a youth; this is about what the youth did to others. Crime stories are reenacted twice; the first time as they happened, in front of the kid who did it. The second time, the youth plays his own victim. The State School represents a significant investment in humanity. The idea is, if a youth can develop compassion for himself (the life story) and empathy for his victim, (the crime story), he will not go out and hurt someone. And it works. The recidivism rates are very low. Do you think a cowboy legislator in Texas would vote to fund it if they weren't? I'm not saying Texas is perfect. Far from it. I write about Napoleon Beazley in the book. Do you remember that case? Beazley would have been an ideal candidate for the Giddings State School. He was executed because his victim was the father after three years.of a judge who sits on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Virginia. To me, Beazley's was a political execution. I've gone on at some length and there is more to say and it is all in the book. I am hoping you will find this compelling and will help spread the word about *Last Chance.* My website is: www.lastchanceintexas.com Thanks for considering *Last Chance in Texas: The Redemption of Criminal Youth*
