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October 10, 2001
Virginia Stratton
2800 Burdett Road
College Park GA 30349
Governor Gray Davis
State Capitol Building
Sacramento CA 95814
Governor Davis: I have been a correspondent with Tim Leon (C29681) for almost two years. I began to correspond with Tim with the hopes of encouraging and enlightening him; perhaps to help him keep his faith and hope for a life outside prison. I learned quickly that he is intelligent, knowledgeable and has a surpising amount of faith and hope for himself and the world in general. I began sending him articles and books about items I thought he would be interested in (computers, technology, finance, etc.) only to find that despite being in prison for twenty years, Tim knows as much or more than I do about technology. I have been continually amazed at the things he has taught himself and accomplished while being incarcerated. He has not only taught me things about technology, he has actually helped me with problems that I encounter here as a library media specialist and teacher in a middle school in Atlanta, Georgia. He has so many times taken the time to write encouraging letters to me when I was having difficulties in my life. These actions were not taken to improve his chances of parole;they were taken because he is a caring individual who is a true Christian. I have read letters of support sent by other acquaintances and relatives of Tim and they just verify what I have learned about him. Tim is an extremely intelligent, knowledgeable person who wants to help other people. His helpfulness and work toward certificates and awards are obviously not just last minute efforts to increase his likelihood of parole, either. Tim has consistently improved himself and helped others over the years, both inmates and prison personnel. The support letter from the librarian that he worked with at Tehachapi sums up Tim's personality and character, I believe. His willingness to help others using his knowledge and skills is only part of it. Mr. McCargar said that Tim wanted to make certain that anything he was involved with continued to be successful and well-run and even after he was transferred to another area, he came back to offer help and guidance on his own time. While it has been proven that Tim did indeed contribute to the death of an individual, I feel that the crime that put Tim in prison came about because of his youth and emotional immaturity. Fortunately for many young people, there are teachers and ministers who take them in hand and help them to overcome feelings of worthlessness and inferiority that are associated with child abuse but some people are not that fortunate and end up trying to impress the wrong people. As an educator I have seen young people who are outcasts for one reason or another reach out to the wrong people and come near to destroying their lives. I always try to help those young people; how unfortunate for Tim that he didn't really have anyone. He had his mother and other family members but sometimes people are too close to a problem to actually see it. And so Tim Leon has now spent more than 20 years in prison because he didn't have support and guidance when he needed it. I am certain that is why he has been involved with the R.O.C.K. program at Corcoran; he knows firsthand how important it is to be there at the right time for young people. Governor Davis, I have read newspaper articles that quoted you as saying there are no extenuating circumstances. If someone takes a life, they should spend the rest of their life in prison. I know that there are cold-hearted, cold-blooded murderers who will easily kill as a convenience or without a moment's hesitation and should be kept off the streets. But someone who, according to everyone who knows him or has come into contact with him, has always been a "good" person--always helpful and hardworking, always seeking to improve his mind, who gets into a situation that accidentally ended in someone's death--that person has spent more than twenty years sincerely regretting his actions and deserves an opportunity to start his life now as an adult. He has learned several trades thanks to the prison system and he has taught himself so much more. With my family living in Georgia, I can only continue to offer my friendship and support to Tim when he is released. I also pledge to him to help with some college expenses as he continues toward a college degree. But Tim has an unbelievably large support base there in California from churches and friends. In conclusion, if Tim is to be paroled, and I hope you will agree there is no real reason why he should not be, please do it now while he is still young enough to have a career and begin his life. He cannot bring back the life that he took but he has prayed to God for forgiveness and he will continue everyday to live with the mistakes that he made twenty years ago. Sincerely,
Virginia Stratton |
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