Prison Professors Start Here
I’m Justin Paperny. At Prison Professors, we know how overwhelming it feels to face the criminal justice system. We offer a variety of free resources to help.
Whether you’re confronting an investigation, preparing for sentencing, or trying to rebuild your life after a conviction, we encourage you to make choices from a position of strength, with your eyes wide open, understanding every opportunity cost along the way.
My partner, Michael Santos, frequently quotes lessons he learned from masters:
“It’s never too early and never too late to start preparing.”
- Michael Santos
Take the first step by learning more about where you are in the process. Those who are new to the justice system will find it overwhelming. By breaking it down into clear stages, it’s easier to navigate the challenges and work toward the best possible outcome. With a solid plan, you’ll restore confidence and get back to the life you deserve, based upon the choices you make.
Most people go through the following 12 stages:
- Precharge
- Government Investigation
- Charging
- Plea
- Mitigation Strategies
- Presentence Investigation
- Sentencing Hearing
- Post-conviction
- Administrative Relief
- Community Confinement
- Supervised Release
- Career Development
At each stage, opportunities exist for specific actions that can influence your life. Empower yourself by learning how to focus your energy and how to make intentional decisions.
No one should work harder than you to advance toward the highest level of liberty, at the soonest possible time..
I’ve been in your shoes. I know what it’s like to feel lost, unsure of what to do next, and worried about the future. Progress starts when you own your decisions. No one can change the past, but we all can influence our way to a better future.
Use the same strategy you’ve used to succeed in other areas:
Define success as the best possible outcome
Set realistic goals
Create a plan
Prioritize first things first
Develop your tools, tactics, and resources
Execute your plan every day
Create accountability metrics to measure progress
Adjust as necessary.
Start building your comprehensive mitigation strategy today, regardless of what stage of the journey you’re in. If you don’t know how, then learn. Feel free to participate in our live, interactive webinars to get our responses to your questions.
The past is behind you, but your future depends on the steps you take now.
Our team has worked with thousands of people who’ve gone through similar challenges, and every person on our team has gone through them too. To paraphrase an old Chinese proverb:
- If you want to know the road ahead, ask someone who has walked back.
We began building this version of the Prison Professors website when my partner, Michael Santos, finished serving 26 years in federal prison. He has moved on to work on our nonprofit, with hopes of building macro changes to the system, such as:
Opening more opportunities for people to earn freedom through merit,
Creating alternatives to incarceration,
Advancing arguments for home confinement and work-release programs.
I support his efforts by leading our boutique consulting firm, White Collar Advice.
Together, we develop resources that you can use to begin taking steps that will show the reasons you’re a great candidate for leniency, or higher levels of liberty at the soonest possible time.
We encourage you to take deliberate steps to improve your position. Progress comes from commitment, discipline, and a clear plan.
Explore all the free resources we make available, or use the ones most appropriate to your stage of the journey.
If you have questions, participate in our interactive webinars. We host those webinars every Monday at 1:00 pm Pacific, 4:00 pm Eastern.
Respectfully,
Justin Paperny
P.S. If you want to learn more about our journey, check out the Prison Professor and White Collar Advice timelines.
