Former San Francisco prosecutor works to have rehabilitated prisoners resentenced, released
A former San Francisco prosecutor who helped produce a first-of-its-kind criminal justice reform law in the nation leads a nonprofit that works to safely release rehabilitated prisoners, allowing them to become productive community members.
Hillary Blout says she gained a fresh understanding of the transformation that can happen in prison when she visited San Quentin Rehabilitation Center, formerly known as San Quentin State Prison.
"I met so many men that seemed to be better in our community giving back, than languishing, wasting away in prison," Blout said.
She learned the people she met had served years for their crimes, but still had decades left in their sentence. And that didn't seem right to her.
"I felt a lot of shame," she said. "I have sent people to prison. I felt it was my responsibility to do something about it."
She crafted a unique law that passed in 2018, AB 2942, allowing prosecutors to take a look back at their old cases and request resentencing for those who have rehabilitated.
She also started the Oakland-based nonprofit, For The People.
"We started For The People with a very simple mission, which was to identify and support the safe release of people from prison that don't need to be there," said Blout.
For The People has helped pass prosecutor resentencing laws in California and five other states. The nonprofit has worked with about 60 prosecutors around the nation to resentence more than 1,000 people.
Many of those people freed, whose stories are featured on For The People's website, had served years for robbery, burglary, and "three strikes" convictions.
Resentencing considers outdated laws, the person's past, the crime, rehabilitation, re-entry plan, and victims' input.
"We work with prosecutors to be a part of going back to court saying, 'Your honor, I ask this person to be sent away, and now I'm asking for this person to be released because it is in the best interest of the community that this person be home,'" Blout said.
People like Troy Dunmore, who was sentenced to 65 years to life for robbery in 1995. But in prison, he dealt with his anger and addiction and embraced education.
"It was just about to be a better person. I was tired of everything I was doing, and my life was always failure, failure, failure," Dunmore said.
He'd served 26 years and had at least 39 more years to go when he was resentenced in 2021. His sentence was reduced. He was going home.
Dunmore recalled his reaction, "Wow, shocked, shocked, shocked."
Today, Dunmore is a drug counselor in San Francisco's Tenderloin District and is working toward a college degree, thanks to support from his family, For The People, and social workers.
"It feels like I'm on the path I'm supposed to be on right now," Dunmore said.
The success stories like Dunmore's bring Blout joy.
"They're really monumental celebrations of just being free and not having to be behind bars anymore," she said.