Credit: Getty Images.

We cannot change our past, but we can change ourselves. Forgive me if that sounds like the tagline of a sappy drugstore paperback, but it’s true.

When I became a New York State Parole Board commissioner, my only goal was to apply the law fairly and make release decisions based on parole applicants’ current risk –– to determine whether they had truly reckoned with their pasts and made changes within themselves to ensure they would live according to the law.

Advertisement

Article continues below this ad

I knew that many people in prison had hurt people, or worse, and I didn’t take that lightly. My mother was crushed by a drunk driver, causing her years of suffering and upending my childhood. But everyone who appears before the parole board has served their time and is eligible to be considered for release. It wasn’t my job to resentence........

© Times Union