Elvis
Elvis Martin is currently incarcerated at Green Haven Correctional Facility. He is the President of Carribean African Unity, an organization that was created to meet the unique needs of the Caribbean population at Green Haven. He is also an artist. You can see some of his work on this website and at @paintings_portraits on Instagram.
“Hope in Every Circumstance” by Elvis Martin (right). Note: interview has been lightly edited for readability.
Interviewer 0:04
Hi, can you tell me your full name, today's date, and your location?
Elvis Martin 0:15
My name is Elvis Martin. Today’s date is November the 5th?
Interviewer 0:23
It’s the 6th…
Elvis Martin 0:25
It’s November the 6th. [Laughs] I’ve kind of lost the dates with all the election stuff that is going on.
Interviewer 0:30
Yeah.
Elvis Martin 0:31
And I’m currently in Green Haven Correctional Facility.
Interviewer 0:36
Can you talk a little bit how—about how you came to know the Immigrant Defense Project? How you came to be here with this project today?
Elvis Martin 0:54
I came to know the Immigration Defense Project through, um, Interviewer. How that came about is, I had a proposal that me and my friend Javier and a few other guys was working on. And he was trying to find some form of outside agency that would help us put it forth. And I was recommended by a female—by Sophie. My friend Javier was actually recommended by her, and so that’s how we get connected with Jane and the Immigration Defense Project.
Interviewer 1:39
So we want to ask you a little bit about coming to the United States. So, what are some your first memories of arriving in the United States.
Elvis Martin 2:08
I mean, my first memory coming to the United States, I came right after high school. I actually had the opportunity to either attend the high school prom in Jamaica, which I had just completed high school, or come to the US, in Florida, and I had to make a tough decision. I wanted to go to my high school prom, but if I go, I wouldn't be able to make the flight to come to America. But, back in Jamaica, America was like the land of opportunity. The place where everyone’s trying to be. It’s like a goal that they accomplish. So, I gave up my high school prom and everything just to come. That’s what I did—for me, in memory—when I was coming to America.
“When I got here, it wasn’t exactly what I expected. At first when I arrived in Florida, the streets wasn’t paved with gold road as everyone expected. ”
Interviewer 2:50
Do you have any specific memories about what it was like when you got here?
Elvis Martin 2:58
When I got here, it wasn’t exactly what I expected. At first when I arrived in Florida, the streets wasn’t paved with gold road as everyone expected. So—but I was still in denial—I said maybe it’s because I’m just in Florida, maybe when I go to New York—because that's where everyone from our community goes to become successful—maybe New York is a different America from Florida. When I arrived in New York, I see the same, same exact thing. You have to work hard and really work your ass off. You have to actually work hard if you want to achieve something.
Interviewer 3:48
And what specifically was different than you thought?
Elvis Martin 3:58
In New York, there’s a lot of barriers that was kind of—that was new to me—that was kind of preventing me from being successful. Like, I came on a visa at first, and the visa supposedly expired in six months, and I overstayed the visa, so I wasn’t even able to get a legitimate job, or further my education, because I don’t have no social security number—nothing—so I couldn’t get help financially to further my education, or even obtain a legal job. I have to do stuff that is a little on the books—off the books—side jobs here and there, which was the reason. That’s what kind of, led me on a different path.
Interviewer 4:50
You mentioned that the United States was the goal for a lot of people back home. Why do you think that was? Like, why was the US seen that way? And were there things back in Jamaica that made you want to leave at the time that you did?
Elvis Martin 5:21
Back in Jamaica I grew up in a ghetto neighborhood. Most of the people that actually made it out of the ghetto, if they don't make it by being like artists or sports players—they actually made it out of the ghetto by coming to America, with New York City or stuff like that. The kinds of success—successes—are extremely high. They already selling, coming, returning back, to our neighborhood, giving back. Sending down barrels of stuff, sending down cars. They come down flossing their success. Also, stuff that we see in the television, read—hear in the news or read in the newspaper about the opportunity in America, that’s kind of—that’s where our attention—that place, you want to be. [Unintelligible].
Interviewer 6:32
It sounds like you came to the United States when you were a little bit older.
Elvis Martin 6:41
Yeah.
Interviewer 6:45
Can you talk about your sense of this idea of home? You've spent now some time in the United States and also sounds like most of your childhood and teenage years in Jamaica. So how has your sense of home changed over time since you moved between two countries?
Elvis Martin 7:09
Uh [laughs], most of my memories is in Jamaica because I was only in America, the streets, before I came to prison—little bit over three years. The most memories of home are back in Jamaica. And at the time when I was living in Jamaica, it seems bad—that I have to leave this country because so many killings and stuff going on, but now as I’m a grown man—a matured person, it doesn't—it doesn't seem that bad. It seemed that life down there was okay. Because growing up—even though I grew up in the ghetto—I wasn't poor-poor. It’s just that I had parents that—how would I say that—hustling. They got to make a way to provide. It was for me and my siblings. Make a way for us to get a good education, and complete high school in Jamaica, which most students in the ghetto don't complete high school—they dropout. as well. So, it wasn't—life in Jamaica wasn’t bad for me. Transition into America—to be honest, I actually regret it. If I had known that I was going to come through all of this, I could have stayed in Jamaica and work on a future in Jamaica. It may not be all that—it may not be all that glorious as I was expecting in America, but it would be enough to survive and get by.
“Because at one point, me and my parents couldn’t even—there was fear for our lives, and we had to keep going around—on the run, and stuff like that. That’s what really pulled me into violence. I had to pick up a gun and say no, my family can’t live like this.”
Interviewer 9:22
You talked about some of the challenges when you came here. Can you talk a little more about that?
Elvis Martin 9:40
When I came here—Coming to America is um—this is tough for me but—going to school in America—I wanted to go to school for like a few months and as I said before, I didn’t have no Social Security number, so it was kind of difficult for me to get any form of financially affordable education. So, the only other stuff, thing I know, is to go to the streets, which I rejected in Jamaica because I know what it’s—the streets bring. I rejected it. So, the only other option I had was to go to the street. What forced me in the street is need, but actually from Florida when I come to New York, I started hanging out with my father’s side of the family. My father’s side of the family came here as immigrants also. My mother’s side came here as immigrants. But both of them was in the street life, and uh, they conflict with my father’s side of the family—my mother’s side of the family. This and street stuff. And that kind of pulled me, get me involved. Because at one point, me and my parents couldn’t even—there was fear for our lives, and we had to keep going around—on the run, and stuff like that. That’s what really pulled me into violence. I had to pick up a gun and say no, my family can’t live like this. Yeah. To protect my family. Once I was all done and finished, it’s like […] ain’t no turning back.
Interviewer 11:49
What do you mean by—what do you mean by that?
Elvis Martin 11:59
[…] Getting into crime and stuff, is like your whole focus. If your goal is telling you that you want to be successful in life, but the means of obtaining it is taking a different road and going down that road, enjoying the fruits of that lifestyle—You don't want to keep it up after because initially, I get into the lifestyle just to protect my family because of family, I got involved. And when all that conflict is finished, trying to get back that other lifestyle is difficult. Going back to where I was, like working side jobs here and there, wasn’t going to make it. This is kind of a little bit difficult for me because I never really like break down, talk or discuss certain stuff that really brought me and I obviously don’t ever want to put the blame like because of—I don’t got this, I don’t got that—why I choose the life that I chose when I was young.
Interviewer 13:30
I understand that, but you should talk about, you should feel free to talk about the different kinds of factors and the context that was going on if that's what you remember as you reflect back. It's important for you to share it if that's what, you know, comes to mind. And thank you for opening up about it, too.
But you know, I'm curious—so this possibility that you could get deported. Was that in the back of your mind? Like when did that possibility surface for you, that you could be deported back to Jamaica?
Elvis Martin 14:35
At first, I didn’t have a problem going back to Jamaica. At the start, I get here, and I was 16 years old, going on 17, and I get arrested right on the first month after I turned 19 years old. And I always thought that I had the option to do the prison time or get deported, so if it was always like the petition to sign for me to get deported, without doing any time, before even going to trial for the case. I would always want to jump on that option, so I didn’t have no fear of being deported at that time. So after I got sentenced and doing the prison time, I get visited by ICE and they asked me to—if I wanted to sign the waiver to get deported and I said nah, I didn’t sign actually. I just go through the process. Anyway, but I was, you know, fear of being deported because after I’d seen that America is not really the land where you can—not what I expected.
Interviewer 16:01
So, for you It sounds like being deported was something you wanted—that you invited.
Elvis Martin 16:11
Yeah.
Interviewer 16:13
It sounds like you have some family here and in Jamaica. Do you remember how they reacted to all of that?
Elvis Martin 16:28
Um, most of my family here. To be honest, the main reason I wasn’t really worried about being deported because my family at that time, when I just get arrested, my family has like connections good to let me—for me to come back here if I wanted, like legally and stuff. But I wasn’t—I was young, and I wasn’t really thinking that there’s consequences [unintelligible]. I was—I wasn’t really caring about being deported and that kind of thing. But now, as I’m older I see—I look at America as a different, as a different um—from a different perspective. That is a whole lot of opportunities here, and even though I had certain barriers, only if I could overcome those barriers, I could reach those opportunities there. But if I have a—right now, I’m 36 years old, and if I have a chance—opportunity to go in the streets in America, I would love to do that. But because I have to get deported, I have to deal with that.
Interviewer 17:47
Yeah. Why do you think your perspective on this country changed? You said part of it is getting older. But are there experiences, or people, or anything that has changed your perspective?
Elvis Martin 18:10
Being in prison, the reason mainly. Being in prison—I run an organization in here called Caribbean African Unity, and it’s a prison-based organization that was created to meet the needs—unique needs—of the Caribbean population. And conducting meetings and inviting other guests and running programs and all that stuff showed, enlightened me to that no matter where you’re at in the world, you can always advance or achieve all your goals. But America has more opportunity and deliver that. It’s one of the most democratic country where you can worship whoever you want to worship here. You have freedom of religion. Say whatever you want to say. Freedom of speech, and you don’t have to look over your back that the government gonna be up on you. But, uh, they’re doing those things. So, doing organization work, in here, and that has actually change my perspective on America.
Interviewer 19:55
How long have you been—sorry go ahead.
Elvis Martin 20:00
That showed me a different part about the—
[You have one minute left.]
Elvis Martin 20:06
…America is the land of opportunity.
Interviewer 20:11
Do you want to call us back because I just got the one—
Elvis Martin 20:15
Yeah, I’ma call back.
[Pause]
[Phone rings]
[Hello, this is a collect call from an inmate at the New York State Department of Corrections and community supervision. This call is subject to recording and monitoring. To accept charges, press one…]
Elvis Martin 21:22
Hello…
Interviewer 21:58
Cool. So you were talking about kind of the opportunities that you’ve come to recognize more through your work.
Elvis Martin 22:16
Yes. Through doing organization work on the inside in here, it has been like—it opened up my eyes to see America from a different perspective. I see this—I see a lot of success stories from people that was—immigrants that was in a worse situation than me that they didn’t have no social—nothing at all—no financial aid or support, and they have grown, climbed from the bottom straight up. And that has actually inspired me and changed my perspective.
Interviewer 22:57
So, it's through the conversations you've had with the other people in the organization. Is that sort of what started to shift your mind?
Elvis Martin 23:08
Yeah.
Interviewer 23:11
Are there any specific things that—or conversations you've had? Programming that you guys have done that you think has been a big part of that?
Elvis Martin 23:30
Um, yeah. When I first—I’m in the organization, doing organization work for like 8 years now—but when I first started it, I entered discussion, where it was like discussing values. We had this [unintelligible], the group speaking about what kind of values they think they have in them that they use daily and it like, drive they life. That discussion was what, um, draw me more and more to get into organization work because I started recognize that all of these types of values that organization talks about is stuff that I already knew and deal with, but I never really like, put it into action. I was like—I was like a walking contradiction, like I say I believe in this, but I do not do it, and organization stuff has bring that to light—all those thoughts—living by values.
“ ...as an immigrant incarcerated—you want to be at the table with policy makers that make everyday policies about us. But we do not have the opportunity to be at the table. A lot of time we reach out to policy makers to try to bring the table to us, and we get a deaf ears.”
Interviewer 25:09
What are some of the some of the values that you guys talked about?
Elvis Martin 25:17
Yeah, one of them is like trust—trust and integrity. That’s something that I always think about especially after my trial. I had a lot of friends and—I mean a lot of friends—and right now I could count on my hands how many friends I have, and these are the friends that I have trust in. I really—integrity. I’m a person that could be trusted with even the smallest of—smallest of a thing that I would keep it intact. Organization work for me, tell you the truth, is something that I get interested in more and more. Based on the fact that when I just entered the prison system, I’d seen that most of the prison population is Black and Latinos—immigrants mainly—and that issues obvious baffle me. Why is that? Why is that? I never could understand it but being in organization, that always come up in our discussion, and we’re always trying to figure out how we can change it, and especially my group is made up of immigrants, and we already try to have debate or in-depth conversation about what can we do to bring about change. And this was—when I first hear about this interview, the first thing come to mind was that in organization we always talk about—you want to be, as an immigrant incarcerated—you want to be at the table with policy makers that make everyday policies about us. But we do not have the opportunity to be at the table. A lot of time we reach out to policy makers to try to bring the table to us, and we get a deaf ears. First thing that come to mind, and say that this may be our advice, go into their ears, policy makers, so that they could get our point of view and educate on some of the issues that affect us. Yeah. As immigrants.
Interviewer 28:31
What are some of the issues specific to immigrants that come up a lot in the group?
Elvis Martin 28:43
You know, one of them is like—the thing is most of us in here is deportable or have had another order of deportation already. Why can’t they just deport us instead of us sitting in here wasting taxpayer dollars? Why can’t they just deport us? Is it because the system is seeking vengeance? Or is it just that cruel? Or it’s politics? And even to this day when we re-ask to those questions again and again and again, we can’t seem to get a straight answer. And every time we have this conversation, they always turning up the body of immigration—of immigrant population in here. And another is that most of the natural born inmates that are here, there are reorientation programs and stuff for them. Not nearly enough, but programs geared at them to get a successful transition back into their community like to help them with financial aid and stuff like that. But for the immigrants, it’s not so. They usually—once you go on the plane, you’re just left with I think, 40 dollars and that’s it. It’s up to [unintelligible] the country that you probably lived when you was a kid, or you’ve been away for over two, three decades. And it’s up for the other country to bear the burden of rehabilitating you if you haven’t been fully rehabilitated, or getting you house or shelter that you don’t got the resources to do so. It’s all the burden on that country and you to get you resettled back into your native-born country. And that’s another question that [unintelligible] amongst us.
Interviewer 31:00
Kind of related to that, the fact that you thought maybe you wouldn't be returning to New York, or to your community here in the United States, how does that impact what you—what kind of programs you either choose to do or have access to while you're inside?
Elvis Martin 31:31
Can you repeat the first part of what you said?
Interviewer 31:34
The fact that you might not be returning back to New York, or to a community in this country? How does that impact like what you have done with your time inside—if it's had any impact?
Elvis Martin 31:54
Yeah, it’s impacted me a lot because I have a son over here—an 18-year-old son, in America, an American citizen—and even though it’s gonna be difficult for me to see him, he can always come see me, but it doesn’t stop me from helping and assisting other members of the immigrant community that are going back to New York, to streets of America. It doesn’t affect me or stop me from helping them. But if I had [unintelligible] for my son, and my family members, that support team here in America, that has affected me a lot—not being able to return to them and show them that same love and support that they have shown me while I am incarcerated here. Yeah, I would love for the opportunity to be with them like show them that same type of love and support.
Interviewer 33:04
How have they reacted to you having to face deportation at the end of this? Do you remember what they said or, you know, what those conversations were like?
Elvis Martin 33:25
They always have a positive outlook, wherever I go, they’re gonna be there to support me and if they have to travel to Jamaica, they would bring [unintelligible] for me. They are always supporting, saying positive things to say. But I’m a person that—I used to be, I like to be independent, and not really dependent on people, but I also wanna show the same support and love. I always say, I’m good. I don’t really need, even though I needed their support. I’m always don’t want to be dependent constantly on their support. I want to be able to return the favor and the assistance, and the support at times when they are in need. But they always shown positive feedback.
“In America, most memories I have with interacting with people and family members is opportunities that was here for me that I have missed—missed out on. And it haunts me today. ”
Interviewer 34:30
I'm gonna shift gears a little bit to ask you kind of about what your memories of Jamaica are like since you've been incarcerated. So, you know, can you tell me about something or a time—like maybe a moment or an event—somebody that you've missed from home? Or something that you know that you visualize and think about a lot from home.
Elvis Martin 35:15
In America or Jamaica?
Interviewer 35:17
Either way you want to take it.
Elvis Martin 35:21
Mm—In Jamaica, I miss like—I had a big family in Jamaica—and I miss like my cousins that I used to—that I grew up with, that I used to play with, that I used to pick [unintelligible] with, create games with—always being creative and trying to build stuff or fix stuff—fix trees or build a little shed. I miss hanging out with those family members. But, over the years all of us has grown so fast, even some of us—some of them are passed—two of my cousins passed. Those memories stuck with me. In America, most memories I have with interacting with people and family members is opportunities that was here for me that I have missed—missed out on. And it haunts me today.
Like one opportunity was when I used to go to school here, in America, for like maybe like six months. I’m good in mathematics. I’m so, so good at mathematics that the teacher used to use my tests as—she used to always use my tests as results, as the answer key. So everybody would have my paper with my name. Even though she didn’t know me, she wanted me to have a day job at the school to work as a tutor, but—and she said no matter what’s going on in your life kid, we could work it out. But I never really used to like trust—I used to have a trust issue—I never used to like trust people that much and tell them that I’m really like an immigrant and I don’t have no papers or none of that because of fear that she may report me or something like that. And she was actually a way that would give me opportunity where I could go down another road, and I always reflect and look back, and I wonder if had opened up—if I had opened up to that teacher, and I kept the tutoring job, and I let her be like a role model to me and assist me in getting legal status and stuff in the country. That would have made me—my life would have—well, my life would be much different.
Interviewer 38:07
Yeah, that's crazy. I feel like there's like a theme where for you, the people that have been a part of all these different places in your life are like a big part of it, you know? And I'm curious what you think about the bonds and relationships you've made in prison and how that impacted you? You talked a little bit about the organization, but how has that network played a role in your life?
Elvis Martin 39:10
The organization work is only really one main thing in prison that played a role. The main thing that played a role in prison was turning my life over to God and Jesus Christ. I’m a Christian and that is like fundamental aspect of my transformation. Going to church and participating in church activities has kind of steered me because since I was a kid in Jamaica, the two main religious beliefs in Jamaica are Rastafarian and Christian—Christianity—and growing up my mom and my grandmother used to always—my grandmother number one—my grandmother, she used to always take me to church. It was mandatory. And some of those Christian values from my youth was always instilled in me. Being in the prison system with my back against the wall, the first person I look towards is religion—is God. And I’m a firm believer in God as much that I put blind faith in God. I believe that he is real, and he will see me through whatever it is. And, in the church, they told me about gifts, and stuff that is already in me, it just needs to be developed. And one that I’ve developed through the years—bring a lot of network to me too—is painting. Somewhere out of the blue, I just—one day I just get up and know how to paint. And my painting is really, really good where I have said I want—I actually can make a living off of it while being in here.
Interviewer 41:40
Wow!
Elvis Martin 41:41
And that was a gift that I didn’t even know that I had until I entered the church. It’s just pray that God will reveal that gift to you, and it was revealed to me.
Interviewer 41:57
Wow! Can you talk a little bit more about your painting like, what do you like to paint and how are—
Elvis Martin 42:07
I like to paint—I like to paint portraits mainly. But my sister that’s a nurse, she used to help me with the market—to market my painting. She actually sells a few of them um—my sister first of all was working as an intern for an organization on Wall Street, and every time they had a fundraiser event, she used to display most of my painting there, and people from all over would look at my painting and purchase them. I knew I have sold maybe a hundred different painting, and I don’t even know where they are.
Interviewer 42:51
Wow!
Elvis Martin 42:52
So even a prominent photographer has purchased my painting at those organization and stuff. And I never really like get, I sign my painting, but I never really get tracking on where they go or anything like that.
Interviewer 43:08
Right. You'll have to show me sometime. I would love to see it.
Elvis Martin 43:15
But I think I have some of them—some of my paintings on an Instagram page that my son made. I think it’s um, Instagram page, martin.com, I think. But if it’s not there, I’ll try and make sure you get a copy of some of them.
Interviewer 43:44
What was the—what was the Instagram?
Elvis Martin 43:48
The page is I think it’s, um, martin.com.
Interviewer 44:53
Okay.
Elvis Martin 43:56
Martinpaintings.com.
Interviewer 44:00
Okay, I'll try to look for it. That's great. So, your son has also been supportive of it.
Elvis Martin 44:10
Yeah. And he follows me in whatever—or he’s trying out painting a little bit. He will do that too.
“But you have a lot of prisoners in here that are pretty much, more than rehabilitated, and because they don’t got a date, the only option for them to come out of here is to go to the Governor for pardon. That’s the only option. That’s the only hope they got.”
Interviewer 44:26
Yeah, Javier mentioned to me that you are a painter, but I forgot to ask you about it, so I'll have to look at it. I'm excited.
Okay, so I'm gonna ask you a little bit of a zoom out perspective based on your experience. What do you think about, overall, this system of punishment you've been subject to?
Elvis Martin 45:07
Overall, you—I know me and a few other guys from our organization, we work on a prison reform proposal that hopefully we try to put towards or put in the hands of other prison reformists because my perspective is always that prison reform is a topic that is in the air right now, and policy makers are always discussing prison reform about the criminal justice system. Never have they involved a prisoner or have prisoners to be at the table or bring the table to prisoners, since we can’t come out of here. It’s only in the last like year or two that most prisoners that have been a long time coming out into the streets, and they start forcing them to get involved or to try to have a seat at the table, which is very difficult for them.
My main focus on this—with the criminal justice system, is that they need reform where formerly incarcerated prisoners be present at the table and putting forth major contributions. The proposal that I said me and my friend are working on is called Rehabilitation Review Board. It’s something different than the current board because there are prisoners that are about to be released or rehabilitated, but because of the date that they should be released, they have to release them, which is fine, I have no problem with that.
But you have a lot of prisoners in here that are pretty much, more than rehabilitated, and because they don’t got a date, the only option for them to come out of here is to go to the Governor for pardon. That’s the only option. That’s the only hope they got. And the proposal that I am trying to formulate with the other guys is for criminal justice system to create a rehabilitation review board where that, all the board members will look at is whether a formerly incarcer—a currently incarcerated prisoner, whether immigrant or non-immigrant, is rehabilitated or not. That’s all the board is looking at. Whether that person is rehabilitated. And if such person is rehabilitated, send that person to parole board for a parole review.
Rehabilitation Review Board won’t be releasing no inmate. It could—it will only verify whether a person is rehabilitated, and even if the person have 60 years to do, but after 25 years, the board has found that he is rehabilitated, that board could send that individual before the parole board, and the parole board could make a decision.
Because right now, a lot of rehabilitated individuals are currently in prison. Mostly immigrant. Because most immigrants, because the crime that immigrants commit in overseas country usually, they usually give a long sentence, draconian sentence. So, but they don’t got not hope or opportunity because even if they fully rehabilitated. So, the Rehabilitation Review Board will actually put that person—give that person the opportunity to plead their case in front of the parole board. The criminal justice system in America is based in four problems which is rehabilitation is one, retribution is another, isolation, and deterrence, but rehabilitation is the main one we have focused on. It’s like it’s being overlooked because a person that’s rehabilitated, it doesn’t matter, and you could sit in prison and rot. It doesn’t matter if you’re rehabilitated or not, but they’re saying it works. The system is geared to bring about change in an individual, but even if that change come about, people still sit in prison and waste that state money.
[You have one minute left.]
Interviewer 50:24
Um, I'm gonna call you back or you call me back because the one minute—
Elvis Martin 50:30
Yeah, I’ll call you back.
Interviewer 50:31
Okay, thanks.
[Pause]
[Phone Rings]
[Hello, this is a prepaid call from an inmate at New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision. This call is subject to recording and monitoring to accept charges, press one…]
Elvis Martin 51:30
Hello, Jane?
Interviewer 52:32
Hi… So, you were talking about the rehabilitation aspect…I'm curious, you're talking about this proposal that you've been working on with the other guys in there. Do you have anything you want to talk about based on your personal experience with the system? You mentioned these four aspects of the system that are kind of like the purpose as you see it. Is that is that based on your experience with the system? Do you feel like that's been true for you? Just, like, for more of a personal perspective.
Elvis Martin 53:43
The system—people always say the system works, but the system works for some segments of society. It doesn’t really work for all of society, only for some segments of society. Based on the fact that in here disproportionate of inmates in here are Black or Latino and immigrants really shows that the system only works for only a certain segment of society. When it comes to immigrants and Black and Latino segment, certain punishment is overlooked for other segment of society. Like for a specific crime, it would overlook house arrest, work release, or minimum sentence as a form of punishment. But when it comes to like white and people in a certain—of a certain financial status, they have the opportunity to receive those forms of punishment for their crime. So that’s going on, but my point of view of this system is that it doesn’t work for us because everybody that I knew in here all got draconian sentence.
“One friend of mine told me that a prosecutor, or a judge, once told him that if he do not take this plea offer, he gonna make sure that his parole officer isn’t born yet.”
Interviewer 55:44
Yeah. What do you, what do you think about your own sentence?
Elvis Martin 55:50
As a first-time felony—not to try to lower, not to try to take away from the crime that I’m here for—I’m here for murder—but as a first-time felony, it wasn’t even a discussion of giving me somewhere in between the minimum and the maximum—and I’m not talking for the minimum. There was not even a discussion of giving me somewhere in-between the minimum and the maximum. It was just, straight the max. And when I speak to a lot of guys in here, I heard so many stories of threats that they have received from the prosecutor and the judge. One friend of mine told me that a prosecutor, or a judge, once told him that if he do not take this plea offer, he gonna make sure that his parole officer isn’t born yet.
Interviewer 56:57
Mm, wow.
Elvis Martin 56:58
And whatever time he’s gonna sentence him to, his parole officer is gonna be born, he’s definitely not born yet.
Interviewer 57:08
Wow. Wow. That’s—yeah.
Elvis Martin 57:17
Crazy.
Interviewer 57:19
I think this is kind of going off of what you're saying, but a friend of our organization—one thing he says a lot is this question of how much punishment does one person need? Or how much punishment is enough for one person? What’s your reaction to that? Or what do you think about that question?
Elvis Martin 57:50
I think that’s a good question for discussion because most policy makers, they don’t really believe that there is a limit. Or they just believe that some people is unredeemable. They just need to be—lock them up, throw away the key. Like our formerly president always say, lock her up, lock them up.
Interviewer 58:15
Mm. Formerly president. [Laughs]
Elvis Martin 58:18
[Laughs] Formerly president.
Interviewer 58:20
Yeah. It sounds like you obviously don't agree with that.
Elvis Martin 58:35
Yeah, I don’t. Definitely.
Interviewer 58:37
What do you think the impact of that is? Based on your time inside so far, and the different people that you know?
Elvis Martin 58:56
I mean everybody is rehabilitated at different stages in their life, but some people are not going to admit that they're not rehabilitated yet. But other people, it don't take them 25 years to be rehabilitated. Some people it may take them 10 years to be rehabilitated. And it is true that incarcerated individuals that have done some more of the time, when they get released, recidivism rates are lower for those types of individuals. They don’t really come back. But it doesn’t—everybody is different. But the system advertises everybody won’t be really rehabilitated unless they get a life sentence. Especially in New York State because in other states, they have review boards where even though you get a long sentence, you are up for review to see if you are rehabilitated and ready for society.
Interviewer 1:00:23
Is there anything you want to close with or other thoughts, ideas, experiences that you want to offer? Those are all the questions that we have for you. Anything you want, yeah.
Elvis Martin 1:00:48
Um, what I would love to pose is—and I always stress this—it’s not only about prison reform, but any topic or any reform that is being made about any segment of the population or society they need to get a representative or even an individual from that segment be present at the table when reform is being made, or else it would just be another one government changing for the next government. And that’s going for prison reform and other reforms.
Interviewer 1:01:42
Yeah. Anything else? Anything else about you know, your experiences, your process of migrating here?
Elvis Martin 1:02:00
Not really. But my process of migrating here was I came on a Disney World trip, to go to Disney World, and I never went back. I didn’t even get to go to Disney World, I just came to Miami. But to this day I always say I would love to go to Disney World. [Laughter]