“You ain’t been down long enough”

On Wednesday February 17th, I spoke at the business school at Pepperdine. A few weeks ago, I called and introduced myself to Professor Dennis Torres, who works as the executive director of real estate operations. He is also an adjunct professor of Negotiation and Dispute Resolution. Professor Torres and I had a memorable first conversation. A minute or two into the call, Professor Torres said, “okay Justin, tell me your story, quickly. Tell me why you should speak to my students.” I welcomed the challenge. Several minutes after giving my “elevator pitch”, he invited me to speak to his class.

While I was in prison both staff and inmates questioned my plans for release. “Nobody cares what a spoiled kid from Encino has to say about ethics”, I heard from the guys in D dorm as I strolled to the low security prison to conduct a video interview with DePaul University. “You ain’t been down long enough to talk about prison and the people it holds”, I heard from the corpulent guard while preparing to teach a pre-release class with Michael Santos in the warehouse behind the chow hall.

I never believed them. Never. Most every day in prison I woke early to prepare for release. Immediately after the guards cleared the 3 am census count, I would walk to the quiet room with my coffee, thesaurus, and dictionary. I would dust away the sleep from my eyes and embrace the quietness in the dorm. I needed that peace and solitude to thrive through prison as much as I needed food. In that quiet room I learned to use perspective, ethics, and philosophy as an antidote to help me understand how and why I had gone wrong. I realized then that my journey through the justice system left me with one major asset, and that was an experience that I knew could help others. With hard work, I am trying to show day by day, it’s possible to leave prison stronger, better, and more prepared than when we entered. But you have got to want it. No one is going to save you, and embracing this truism should help all defendants preparing to enter the life altering experience of federal prison.

Last evening I received an e-mail from Professor Torres. He asked his students to write a sentence or two highlighting what they liked about my speech. He has given me permission to share those comments, and I have done so below.

What did you like most about this lesson?

“The guest speaker Justin was amazing and his insight about the topic was valuable.  Never cheat and when you get caught come clean”

“I liked the guest speaker Justin because he was inspiring and the discussion that followed was truly amazing.  I learned that we all will face these little “grey zone” choices and you need practice to follow the right path.”

“Justin’s lecture, which was extremely genuine and heartfelt.  I learned that people just like me can make the wrong decisions that can lead to severe out comes as what happened to Justin; and that his message is extremely relevant to all of us.  It can happen to us, but we can also prevent it and learn from it.”

” I liked the great guest speaker, he had very interesting stories and perspectives.”

“I learned the importance of staying true and doing what’s right even on small issues that you don’t think matter.”

“I learned that it is more important than ever to maintain my strength of character.”

” I loved the guest speaker!  Definitely bring him back to future classes.”

” I absolutely loved the guest speaker.  Call me cynical, but I think almost everyone could have been in a similar position to him regardless of their acknowledgement.”

“I enjoyed Justin’s speech very much, he is not very different from any of us.”

” I learned to think about the consequences and don’t base decisions just on money.”

“I really enjoyed hearing from Justin and all the stories from his prison mates and how we carry our ethical failures in those small minor uncomfortable actions that tug at our heart, that touch the conscience, not the law or moral code, but a gentle tug on the heart to turn in the other direction.  ”

“The guest speaker was influential for future use in business. You think you have values but when real life hits and bills come due how will you react?”

” I learned that we all have the ability to lie, even if we know the difference between right and wrong.  This speaker put it into perspective for me and helped me to realize that the slippery slope is easy to get on and hard to get off.”

“I feel that I learned a lot from the guest speaker and I appreciate the opportunity to hear him speak. We are all capable of crossing the ethical line.”

” I learned that it is extremely easy to fall into immoral actions.  It’s critical to continue to practice our values like we would practice anything else. ”

” I learned that high expectations can lead to highly risky choices.”

” Incredible story!  I loved hearing Justin’s experiences with prison.”

Tags: DePaul University, ethics, life in federal prison, michael santos, Pepperdine Business School, taft federal prison camp