Rancho Cielo aims to give students the skills to get good jobs and a sense that their lives have purpose and meaning.

Superior Court Judge John Phillips remembers the day 23 years ago like it was yesterday.

A kid stood in his courtroom who’d committed a murder, a young man who was still angry and unrepentant. Then the boy’s grandmother entered.

“He broke down and started crying,” said Phillips. “He was just a kid. And I’m thinking, ‘I’m sending kids to prison for life.’”

Phillips, now 81, had seen it all in 13 years as a district attorney and then 21 as a judge. Shootings, thefts, assault. He handed out difficult sentences, but he was troubled by the stories of many children who went through his courtroom.

“It’s very easy to pull a trigger if you don’t have any future, you don’t have any goals and you don’t have anything to look forward to,” he said.

  • Square Singer
    33•1 year ago

    That’s why the prisons here all offer free education and job training. You can also do an university degree for free while in there. (It’s free when you aren’t in prison too.)

    • El Barto
      20•1 year ago

      Where is “here”?

        • El Barto
          4•1 year ago

          Ah. My app doesn’t show the user’s instance.

          But regardless, if someone is on the fediverse, and already writing in English, they should assume a wider audience.

          All good.

          • Square Singer
            0•1 year ago

            Why? All the Americans are also keep ignoring that the rest of the world exists.

            English isn’t spoken only in the USA. It’s pretty much the language of the internet.

            • El Barto
              2•1 year ago

              As for the first part, I would also say the same thing to a fellow American when they make the same mistake.

              As for the second part, uh, yeah, that was my point.