The Second Chance Chronicles w/ Chaddrick Thomas

  By Chaddrick Thomas We talk a lot about sentences—life without parole, mandatory minimums, stacked decades—but we don’t talk enough about what kind of life we’re actually sentencing people to. Because prison isn’t just a place where you lose your freedom. It’s a place where your body slowly breaks. Your health collapses. Your mind withers. And your spirit is starved. Death by Incarceration isn’t just about time. It’s about environment. And that environment is killing people long before their sentence ever ends. Prison Is Not Built for Health—It’s Built for Suffering Let’s be real: prisons were never designed to support human wellness. They were designed to strip it away. Concrete beds that twist your spine night after night until chronic pain is permanent. Ultraprocessed, high-sodium meals with no nutritional value—just cheap, shelf-stable calories bought in bulk by private contractors trying to maximize profit. No sunlight. No movement. No stimulation. Jus...

We live in a nation that claims “equal justice under law,” but the data tells a different story. If you’re a man—especially a Black man—you’re entering the courtroom with a sentence already halfway written. If you’re a woman, particularly white and perceived as vulnerable, the system slows down. It tilts. It hesitates. This isn’t about conspiracy. It’s about culture. This isn’t misogyny. It’s reality. And it’s time we stop ignoring the facts. Let’s Talk Numbers The U.S. Sentencing Commission—the federal body responsible for tracking criminal sentencing patterns—has laid it all bare: Men receive sentences that are, on average, 63% longer than women convicted of the same crimes. Women are twice as likely to avoid incarceration entirely when compared to men convicted of similar offenses. Men are far more likely to receive mandatory minimums, even when judges have discretion. Prosecutors are more likely to offer plea deals to women that reduce or drop charges altogether. Now pause and ask ...

  By Chaddrick Thomas There’s a pattern society doesn’t like to talk about—but it’s everywhere once you start looking. Same crime. Different genders. Wildly different narratives. When a man commits an act of violence, especially against a woman, he’s instantly branded a predator, a monster, or a savage. There’s no nuance, no waiting period. He’s condemned before the ink dries on the arrest report. But when a woman commits a violent act, we ask questions. What trauma has she endured? What was she going through? Was she manipulated? Was she on medication? She becomes a victim of circumstance—sometimes even a tragic figure we feel sorry for. The public rarely calls her a monster. More often, she’s seen as “troubled.” That word carries a lot of weight. And it does a lot of damage. Media: The Mirror That Distorts Look at how news headlines are written: Male Shooter: “Gunman Snaps, Kills Four—Mental Health History Cited Too Late” Female Shooter: “Woman Was Battling Depression Before Trag...