Factually, the FBI conducted a study and found that out of the over twelve-million people arrested in 2012, only four percent were for violent crimes. Nonviolent people did commit crimes, they did cause damage to society, they did disrupt other lives. There is no doubting that, but what I ask people to doubt is the notion that those who committed nonviolent crimes should be further punished, beyond the courts.

Because as a person who’s committed crime, I can say there is nothing more degrading than being shunned by mainstream society. I have committed 36 misdemeanors and three felonies. And as a human, I learned from my mistakes and was punished for them: Years of incarnation as a juvenile; days of solitary confinement, and more group homes than I can count. Luckily my record was sealed when I turned nineteen.

On paper if you were to see my record you would have probably thought I was a lost cause. Someone unable to function as a respectable member of society. But I went on and served five years in the U.S. Army as a noncommissioned officer, became the first person in my family to attend college, and now aspire to get a PhD in U.S. policy and law.