There's no question that there are many people in prison who would pose a threat to society if they walked free today.

Anita Krecic is not one of them.

In 1987, while deep in the throes of addiction, Anita chose to hitch up with Tracy Hansen. They were pulled over by Mississippi state trooper David Ladner and, fearing he would be arrested for outstanding warrants, Mr. Hansen pulled a gun and shot the state trooper. Anita fled the scene with Tracy and Trooper Ladner died in the hospital two days later.

Mr. Hansen was tried, convicted of the murder, and executed in 2002. Anita was convicted for her role in Mr. Hansen's crimes and sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole after 10 years in another court.

The purpose of parole eligibility for a person sentenced to life in prison is to give them a chance to prove they are worthy of returning to the society they once transgressed against. It is in no way a promise of freedom. To be found suitable for parole you must jump many hurdles in the restrictive environment inside a state penitentiary: you must become and remain drug free, stay out of trouble, follow the rules, gain insight into the roots of your criminal behavior, reflect on the traumas which led you down your destructive path, and learn new means of processing and comping with those experiences so that moving forward you are capable of making better choices that do not harm others or yourself.

There are also the basics: you need to acquire job skills and education, firm community ties, build a support network, and figure out what shape your life will take upon release. In short, you must return to the place where your life went off track and grow up from there. These are the essential elements of rehabilitation, the building blocks for a human being whose world comes crumbling down around them when the way they have been living becomes unsustainable. While these are daunting tasks, they are not impossible for an individual who is truly motivated to accept responsibility for the harm they have caused in the past and move forward walking in grace and wisdom.

So – what became of Anita Krecic?

Anita entered the Central Mississippi Correctional Facility after her 1988 conviction still a few years shy of her thirtieth birthday and went to work immediately, contributing her time and effort in a variety of positions as needed by her facility – she works in the warehouse, in the chapel, as a baker, braiding horse girths, serving as janitor, tending the flower beds, sewing quilts for local shelters, attending weekly Bible studies, and working as the librarian. From 1989 until 2007 she remained consistently employed except for a brief break where she was a full time participant in the prison's vocational technologies program.

After 2006 Anita entered college. She completed more than fifty courses, including an extensive study of the law to support her in her paralegal practice. She is currently in her 2nd year of a 4 year seminary program in pursuit of a bachelor of arts as a practical field minister. She remains a full time student today.Since the onset of her incarceration Anita has also volunteered her time in a number of programs related to the Christian Fellowship that has been so central to her life during the decades she has been in prison.

Anita's over 38 years inside have been consistently filled with work and school, charity work and self improvement. She has never once been in trouble for drugs or alcohol, nor has she committed any act of violence in all this time. Given her exemplary record of service, her unblemished history of conduct in the harsh Mississippi penitentiary environment, her strong connection with her large family, and the many diverse job skills she's acquired along her journey she stands as a pillar of the community where she is confined. Few if any candidates are more qualified for parole or are more ready to demonstrate their deep-seated remorse by living her life outside the same as she has within: with generosity, compassion, integrity, and – despite now being in her 60s – no slowing of her impressive work ethic.

Anita's sentencing judge ruled that she deserved to be considered for release from prison after 10 years if she undertook the effort to turn her life around. She was neither sentenced to death like her co defendant nor was she sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. She has been since she first came into prison every warden's dream of an inmate; her behavior is a model for anyone else who genuinely wishes to lead a life better than the one which led them to run afoul of the law. Anita also has a strong support network, a place to live upon release, and employment opportunities, yet each of the ten times she has stood before the Mississippi Parole Board they have denied her. Why?

On one of her most recent parole denial forms the reasons for the Board's decision have been circled from a long list of generic options: "serious nature of the offense" (which is a static factor that can never be changed unless someone invents a time machine), "insufficient time served" (despite Anita now having served nearly 400% of the original base term her judge ordered) "community opposition" (another factor completely outside of the prisoner's control) and "the board believes the ability or willingness to fulfill the obligations of a law-abiding citizen are lacking" (yet Anita has never had a physical altercation with anyone, has been alcohol and drug free for almost 40 years, works all the time, studies constantly, and spends what little free time is left to her in church and helping others or with her family.)

There are few people on this planet that I would rather have as my neighbor than Anita Krecic.

Any community Anita lives in will be safer, and strengthened by her presence within it. They will benefit from her wisdom gained by the difficult circumstances under which she has thrived and the life experiences she's survived. They will also be enriched by the deep well of Christian charity that fills her very large heart.

Anita has never made of herself a burden: in fact, she even paid for many of her own college courses all these years she's been waiting for one fair chance to be evaluated for parole as the diligent, thoughtful human being she has spent all this time growing into rather than for the hurt, struggling young girl who while in trauma and addiction made a very bad choice in whom she associated with a lifetime ago.

Were Anita incarcerated in any of the many states that have enshrined a liberty interest in parole in their constitutions she would have gone home and been our neighbor a long time ago. Since Mississippi has only recently passed laws to protect such liberty interests, and only for prisoners who entered the system after 2014, all those like Anita who have been incarcerated since before 1995 have fallen through the cracks into a Catch-22 where they are eligible for parole but have no constitutional right to it.

This means that while the Parole Board must justify denying release to most prisoners, for this select group of long termers (whose commitment offenses are no more or less serious than their counterparts), the Board need not explain any denial no matter how egregious an abuse of power it is to deal set off after set off to someone like Anita Krecic, for reasons which are either blatantly untrue or, like "seriousness of the offense," can not be altered by any human effort.

Mississippi's 2014 and 2019 parole reform laws [HB 585 and SB 2795] were a good start towards transforming an archaic good ol' boy system into one that serves the interests of the citizens of the Magnolia State by eliminating favoritism, introducing accountability, and affording everyone within Mississippi's prisons equal rights when to comes to earning their releases.

Well, almost everyone.

Anita Krecic hopes that peoople will remember that "liberty and justice for all" includes people like her - who have worked their whole lives to earn the second chance - which her judge wanted her to have by extending parole consideration at 10 years though unaware that a parole board would steal this chance away with no rational justification. Anita hopes that those who believe people like her who have truly turned their lives around can be judged by who they are today rather than being repeatedly condemned for their past. Hopefully the people of Mississippi vote for parole reform that grants every eligible person a constitutionally protected liberty interest in parole. Then, no governing body could arbitrarily and capriciously dismiss the worth of a redeemable human being.

I hope so too.