Ladaro Pennix, II, has been incarcerated since the age of 16. Sentence to four life sentences plus 74 years. He was sent to an adult prison where he was forced to adjust and adapt to the ills of all that consists of adult prison life. He would find himself spending 17 years of his life in solitary confinement because his ability to adjust was not easy. It was there in solitary confinement where he found his freedom in education and in the books he would read. That very education transformed him and transform the way he thought as an individual. Soon maturity and growth formed, and his development  begin to grow. In that moment he realized he was no longer the same.

The court system and the prison system within (CDCR) has become seriously flawed when they will consider throwing our kids away for life in an adult facility as if there's no hope for our youth. As a child they are not even fully developed to appreciate the gravity of their actions. Though they may do adult things. The very immature of their actions and disregard for human safety shows that their growth and development is impaired, and they need some type of guidance in order to grow out of the behavior that they are displaying. The worst thing that we could ever do is allow an unjust system to throw away our kids.

Ladaro is now 44, he is a changed man. He has earned his degrees, published books, mentored at risk youth, donates every year to various charities, he ministers to his fellow Prisoners and encourages standing on the principal of maturity and ethics and appreciation for life. He doesn't boast about his accomplishments. But what he does is show others that change is possible through the audacity of his success. There is not many people that society would vouch for who have been confined in a prison for 27 years plus. But Ladaro is the exception to the rule.When we look at growth and development. When we look at reform. We look to him to set that precedent, because he is truly raising the bar at what reform looks like. We can no longer turn a blind eye to what's going on to our kids. If we do not make a change today then tomorrow we will be accepting the same injustice that has happened to people like Ladaro. He's never once denied the fact that he's done wrong. But he is not the same person that he was when he came in. The child he was yesterday is long gone. The grown man that he is today not only takes responsibility but lives with remorse and regret and shame. Only a man who has stepped into reform can now embrace the gravity of their mistakes and then work to change them by living their life with remorse. Living your remorse means that everything you do at the point of insight is about not only living your best life, but doing the right things in life to show that you are no longer the same person that you came in as...

That surely is the way Ladaro walks... He is a new man that deserves a second chance. So let's help him obtain that second chance and sign this petition to free him. 

We do not need another one of our children spending life in a adult facility. To not support only validates an unjust system, and it gives the power to that  system to continue to abuse our youth by locking them away and throwing away the key. Imagine if Ladaro was your son... Wouldn't you want him to have a second chance, especially if he is showing that he is no longer the same person that came in there as a youth?

So let's sign this petition and campaign to free Ladaro.... Thank you.��