by Samuel Fishman, LSPC Staff Attorney
Every April, advocates across the state and nation celebrate Second Chance Month. But it’s not just advocates ringing in the annual celebration. In recent years, corrections and law enforcement departments nationwide have also acknowledged Second Chance Month. Not to miss out on the fun, last year, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) issued its own statement celebrating Second Chance Month, lauding the “California Model— a values-based approach to corrections prioritizing normalization, dignity, and healing.” Unfortunately, recently published data shows that CDCR’s public embrace of Second Chance Month is just that: a single month to promote rehabilitative programming, while the other eleven months are business as usual.
Despite CDCR’s embrace of Second Chance Month, a new report published by Cal Matters shows the rate of successful parole grants from CA state prison has been declining in recent years. It went from 39% in 2018 to below 25% in 2025, despite the fact that data shows that parolees have a recidivism rate of less than 3%. The other 97% of incarcerated people who receive parole never reoffend.
The good news is that a number of organizations in California and across the country are going beyond just this month and working hard to provide incarcerated people with a real second opportunity for success on the outside. In Oakland, California, UnCommon Law is leading the charge by providing incarcerated people with resources for not only how to prepare for a Board of Parole Hearing, but how to effectively challenge a potential denial in California state court. On the other side of the country, Parole Prep has worked with more than 400 incarcerated New Yorkers, and achieved a release rate of 65%: more than twice the state average. While we should celebrate these amazing organizations and salute their work, even their best efforts are too frequently blocked by inhumane parole boards.
Here at All of Us or None, we acknowledge that many incarcerated never even had a first chance. Therefore, this Second Chance Month, I call on parole boards across the country to take seriously their charge of rehabilitation and to significantly increase the frequency of parole grants so more incarcerated people can be freed and be given what they so richly deserve: an opportunity. Opportunity is simply too important to leave up to chance.
To contact the organizations mentioned in this article write to:
Uncommon Law
318 Harrison Street, Suite 103
Oakland, CA 94607
Parole Preparation Project
c/o The Law Office of Michelle L. Lewin
135 West 20th Street, Suite 302
New York, NY 10011
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