It is, in fact, so extraordinary that there is not another case of a non-violent teenager first offender on record to compare it to. Those who have determined this matter insist that I deserve the same punishment as Jeffery Dahlmer, Charles Manson and Nazi war criminals. That is very much outside the norm. The legislature has granted judges a wide range of available sentences for a given crime, reconizing that within each category are many possible variables. Some people are homicidal maniacs and need to be segregated from society.
Some people rate a second chance.
I am not asking for a pardon here, just the possibility of a second chance. I will not offend your sensibilitities with a detailed account of what it is to grow up in prison. Perhaps even without a lot of details, one can imagine that mine has been largely a grim and joyless existence. If these mythical institutions actually exist, they are somewhere beyond my experience. I was arrested at age 17 and have turned 47 in prison.