“Please Forgive Us” by Bennie Lackings

Please forgive us for the hurt that we’ve may or may not have caused to the victims, friends of the victims, and family of victims of the offenses that we’ve been convicted of committing…. For God knows that if we could take it all back – we would…. In many of our cases, the crimes that we were convicted of versus what actually happenned; they are completely different in nature… All actions should be judged by intentions. But it’s hard to be able to know for sure what a person’s intentions were… Like premeditated murder… Or better yet-“specific intent to kill”… In so many cases, some of us had no intentions at all to “kill”… Some of us were actually caught-up in street violence, and shot back to defend ourselves. Some of us were in struggles with another person over possession of a weapon and the gun just went off. Some of our shootings were actually “accidental shootings”. But the district attorney’s office rarely acts in favor of a man or woman who has been arrested for an offense… It only takes a “pinch” of evidence to indict someone…. Some of us were indicted, convicted, and sentenced to life on heresay… Even some of us who were convicted of rape were wrongfully convicted. Some of us are doing time because we had sex with someone who was underaged but sexually active, and once that person’s parents found out, they pressured that person to claim to have been “raped”… Some of us are doing time because someone refused to see anyone else with him and claimed to have been raped. You know, that “If I can’t have you-noone else will” thing… Don’t misunderstand. Some of us have actually done exactly what we were convicted of doing… But people change with time. There’s an astronomical number of individuals who are doing hard time and are on death row who deserve another chance at life in society. So many of them have really given there lives to God/The Higher Power. It will blow the minds of people if they could go through that experiences that I’m going through in here. I am at the Louisiana State Penitentiary, and I’m going through an experience that I will never forget. Almost every type of people who are “needed” in society are behind these prison walls… People who have been living a life of sin, then all of a sudden, they’ve made a complete turn around… This is not the “Angola” from the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s, or 80’s. This is not the “bloodiest” penitentiary in the nation anymore. Those were of the days of ignorance… This is new day… This is a more civilized group of people… Who are capable of changing for the better… They are educating themselves more, and many are doing their best to keep a good conduct record…. Fact is, it doesn’t take for a man or woman to do the rest of their lives in prison in order to give them maximum punishment for an act. In most cases, I just takes for their freedom to be taken away for a number of years, therapy, and education… People perish from lack of knowledge…. But once educated, those people are subject to change their outlook on life… Education is knowledge. And proper knowledge brings on wisdom and understanding. There are a lot of prisoners who really didn’t understand the seriousness of their offense, because they were born into an environment full of “crabs in a basket”… with so much hostility… Many offenders were coached wrong by either their family or other adults in the streets… They were misled as to “how to make a living’,etc…. But as that new convict grows older in prison, he/she starts to become much wiser and regrets what he/she has done; and wish that they would be given a second chance… “Please forgive us, World. ” For we are human too, and we’ve made some mistakes in our lives. I hope that God will put it in the hearts of victims and victim’s families/friends to forgive those who have been convicted of whatever the crime may be. Lets seek reconciliation…. God Bless You-All of You!!!!

Bennie Lackings
DOC #326869