Life on Parole
Abstract
Life on Parole is a documentary for the Emmy-award winning PBS investigative program
Frontline production with DCTV in collaboration with The New York Times and the Purple States.
The producer, director, writer is Matthew O’Neill. The Co-Producer is Jeff Arak. The Senior
Producer is Frank Koughan. The executive producer for FRONTLINE is Raney Aronson-Rath.e. It
follows the lives of four people after they are released from state prison in Connecticut as they
try to re-enter society and avoid returning to prison. The film closely examines the challenges
they face, along with the difficult jobs of their parole officers. With unique access, the actors go
inside an effort in Connecticut to change the way parole works and reduce the number of
people returning to prison. The film focuses on how the prisoners navigate the challenges of
their first year on Parole.The film tries to examine an effort to rethink Parole into a condition
that offers a taste of freedom but comes with strict prohibitions on whom you can live with,
where you can go, what time you have to be home, and more. Life on Parole is a unique,
firsthand look at why some people stay out of jail, why some go back, and how one state is
trying to break recidivism. Inside Connecticut’s corrections system, as well as camera-phone
footage filmed by the parolees themselves, the film rotates around the prisoners as they
navigate the challenges of more than a year on Parole, from finding work to staying sober, to
parenting and doing it all while under intense supervision from the state.
Life on Parole
The prisoners: Jessica Proctor, who spent nearly a decade in jail for assault with physical
injury, and is now on Parole for five years. She’s enrolled in a certified nurse assistant training
program and trying to reconnect with her son, but she still struggles with the strict rules of her
parole sentence, Rob Sullivan. He struggles with addiction and has cycled in and out of prison
since 1992 on charges ranging from drug possession to assault. He struggles with the
pressures of life on the outside who its cheaper for him to buy a beer some nights for two bucks
and forget about all his problems, but he regrets missing his young daughter’s life and believes
he can only make it up to her, and that’s by changing.Vaughn Gresham, arrested for the first
time at age 16, was sent to prison at age 18 for robbery. Released to a halfway house and
serving seven years of special Parole, he’s chafing at the restrictions on him.
Erroll Brantley, who is struggling with heroin addiction and has cycled in and
out of prison since 1999, on charges including burglary, robbery, and drug possession. He is put
on Parole for the first time and is forbidden from contacting his girlfriend. Officer Katherine
Montoya restates that the whole point of this exercise is for the offender to learn to do the right
thing on their own and give a unique, firsthand look at why some people stay out of jail, why
some go back, and how one state is trying to break the cycle of recidivism. Mike Lawlor, one of
the architects of the changes in Connecticut, tells that it’s not unusual for parolees to come
back once or twice once they’re out because they didn’t commit a new crime. Still, they’re
violating the rules of their supervision.
In conclusion, the documentary follows Brantley and three other former prisoners in
Connecticut as they navigate the challenges of more than a year on Parole.The film follows the
parole officers who believe in making a living on second chances by figuring out ways to help
the offenders succeed.
References
MD Cunningham, JR Sorensen – Criminal Justice and …, 2006 – journals.sagepub.com
SM Sliva – Journal of Social Work, 2015 – journals.sagepub.com
V Hassine, R Johnson, S Tabriz – 2011 – ncjrs.gov