Jeremiah Bourgeois has spent time in prison and once said jail time “inoculates against feelings of relative deprivation and you forgo chasing pipe dreams.” But he is coming to find out that he was wrong. He has become optimistic after being released from his 27-year sentence even though he and his fiancée struggled to find a decent place to live that accepted a tenant with a criminal history. He recalls the struggles of others who have spent time in jail, including Laura Shaver, now a criminal defense attorney who once was declined an internship with the Department of Justice due to a theft conviction as a teen. There is also the success story of Aaron Borrero, who served several decades in prison for a violent crime, but went on to start a company with his wife that, after four years, was among the top three percent of Hispanic businesses in terms of earnings.
