I committed a crime that I’m still paying for and for that I was given the ultimate penalty: a trip to death row. I eventually made it off after 20 years and I felt that that alone was something worth sharing. The one thing we all like are stories of redemption, of getting back up once we have fallen. We often watch movies and cheer for the hero or the person who has overcome a certain challenge. The great thing about life is that the same thing we applaud in others is also found in us — and it doesn’t matter if you’re a housewife in suburban America or a criminal sitting on death row in Nevada. And that’s what I wanted to share.
When I write I always try to invoke a positive message, because just maybe I can convince one person that no matter who you are and no matter what you’ve done, the best thing you can ever do is hold on to hope when all hope is lost. To never give up even in the face of impossible odds. Nothing is over until the minute you stop trying. Despite where I am, I still have a voice in this world that I could use to instill chain change, positivity and hope.
Prison is often seen as a dead end. However, I felt that I just needed to find a side street or an alley to help me get to where I need to go.
I read a book called “Letters to an Incarcerated Brother.” It’s a book that everyone behind bars should read. It was written by the amazing author and TV star, Hill Harper. In the book he had a quote by Milton Burrell. He said, “if opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door. Good opportunities for prisoners who still want to succeed in life are very few. Writing is my way of building a door. It’s my very own magical door hidden in the wardrobe. Where it will lead, I don’t know, but I’m hoping something good will come from my venture.
Prison has a way of dehumanizing and emasculating you. Writing is my way of finding myself again, and in doing so I can remember not only what I am capable of achieving in this life, but also what it feels to be human.
Frederick Paine was on death row before his sentence was overturned in 2009 and he was re-sentenced to life without parole for the murder of a cab driver in a robbery.
Frederick Paine #32945
NNCC
PO Box 7000
Carson City Nevada 89702
One Comment
Frederick, you obviously have a decent command of the English language and without doubt you enjoy studying and writing. At the same time, you are serving a life without parole sentence for a crime you admit to having committed; a crime that took an innocent’s man life. I personally object to the death penalty because I do not believe any one of us has the authority to take the life of another except in cases of defense. Add to that the possibility of mistaken convictions and the death penalty to me is unconscionable. In cases such as yours, where there is no doubt of guilt, even by your own admission, the only viable alternative is life without the possibility of parole. You took the life of another, and only by the most liberal application of Nevada death penalty law on appeal were you able to escape the death penalty. Instead of wasting the court’s time and the tax payers’ money attempting to obtain the freedom you will never deserve, why don’t you use your intelligence and energy to something more productive?