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One of my favorite people in our community is Tracii Hutsona. When she called me, she didn’t waste time. She said, “I want to do better. I want to build.” She had already done her research. She knew Michael’s history, his book Earning Freedom, his work that helped pave the way for the First Step Act. She told me directly, “I want guidance because I need to show I’m different than the judge who gave me 51 months.”

What stood out immediately was her willingness to own it. She didn’t make excuses. She accepted that the victim impact statement had hurt her case. She accepted that the judge had every reason to be skeptical. And when I told her what most people don’t want to hear—that a written plan means nothing unless you implement it inside—she didn’t flinch. She said she was going to follow through.

That’s the lesson. Too many people write a plan, then surrender, drift into the routine of prison, and tell themselves they’ll “get serious later.” Later never comes. They coast, and then they wonder why nothing moved for them.

Tracii did the opposite. She shared her plan with her family before surrender. When she got to Tucson, she shared it with her case manager. Instead of dismissing it, the case manager encouraged her to mentor others, to teach women how to create and document their own plans. Tracii leaned into it. She had run businesses, she was articulate, she was empathetic—she used those skills to contribute.

And she didn’t stop. She kept showing progress to the people who mattered: her case manager, her probation officer, her warden, and even her sentencing judge. She didn’t bring it up once and walk away. She kept at it over time.

The plan she built over time changed everything. Her case manager became an advocate and updated her central file with notes on her contributions. When she petitioned the judge under the First Step Act, she had a record to point to. The judge reduced her sentence by nine months. Her case manager recommended twelve full months in the community. On a 51-month sentence, she served 17.

The lesson is clear. You can’t drift through prison and expect relief later. A plan only matters if you live it, day after day, and make sure others see the work. Tracii did that. Most don’t.

Justin Paperny