This article was published in partnership with The News Station, an online news publication that aims to foster dialogue centered on the diversity of the ever-evolving American culture.

Dear Mr. Chauvin:

Since we are now on the same side of the legal system as convicted murderers, I thought it would be appropriate for me to give you some advice on how to navigate the prison system, and how you could find peace and contribute to society. But first, I must prepare you for sentencing day.

It will be rough. Your victim’s family will express their pain and also say things about you that will hurt. Don’t expect the judge to be nice, either. The whole world will be watching him, and it will be in his best interest not to speak to you in glowing terms.

Secondly, I know as you reflect on the events of that day, you are probably blaming George Floyd for what happened to him. That is not productive. I will give you the benefit of the doubt that you did not intend to kill him. Nevertheless, you must accept the fact that your unreasonable actions caused his death. Try to be contrite. It will take some time before you fully take responsibility, but it is the only way you could start the healing process.

As someone who believes in restorative justice. I would like to suggest a way in which you can become helpful in reforming police tactics. I strongly believe you think you were doing the right thing, that you were adhering to standard operating procedure. Looking at what is happening to other Black men (and women) when they interact with the police. I cannot disagree with you.

I urge you to speak openly about how the system failed you as it has been failing Blacks for years. Make suggestions that would improve the relationship between the police and the community they serve.

Finally, I hope you get a reasonable sentence. You see, since we are now on the same side. I have no choice but to root for you. As I hope you would be rooting for me and other prison inmates like yourself.

Sincerely,
M. Yayah Sandi

Close window X

Republish this article

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Prison Journalism Project is happy to share our writers and reporters’ stories with your print and online audiences. You are free to republish them under a Creative Commons license unless otherwise noted on the page. You can use the URL or copy and paste the story into your CMS.

Here are our ground rules:

• You must credit Prison Journalism Project. In the byline, we prefer “[Author Name], Prison Journalism Project.” At the top of the text of your story, please include a line that says: “This story was originally published by Prison Journalism Project” and include a link to the article.
• No republishing of photographs, illustrations or graphics without specific permission. Please contact inquiries@prisonjournalismproject.org.
• No editing the content, including the headline, except to reflect changes in time, location and editorial style. For example, changing, “today” to “last week,” or San Quentin to San Quentin, California. You can also make minor revisions for style or headline size, and you can trim stories for space. You must also retain all original hyperlinks, including links to the Prison Journalism Project newsletters.
• No translation of our stories into another language without specific permission. Please contact inquiries@prisonjournalismproject.org.
• No selling ads against our stories, but you can publish it on a page with ads that you’ve already sold.
• No reselling or syndicating our stories, including on platforms or apps like Apple News or Google News. You also can’t republish our work automatically or all at once. Please select them individually.
• No scraping our website or using our stories to populate websites designed to improve search rankings or gain revenue from network-based advertisements.
• Any site our stories appear on must have a prominent and effective way to contact you.
• If we send you a request to remove our story, you must do so immediately.
• If you share republished stories on social media, please tag Prison Journalism Project. We have official accounts on Twitter (@prisonjourn), Facebook (@prisonjournalism), Instagram (@prisonjournalism) and Linked In.
• Let us know when you share the story. Send us a note, so we can keep track.

Sentencing Day Advice for Derek Chauvin

by M. Yayah Sandi, Prison Journalism Project
May 6, 2021

<h1>Sentencing Day Advice for Derek Chauvin</h1> <p class="byline">by M. Yayah Sandi, Prison Journalism Project <br />May 6, 2021</p> <p><em>This article was published in partnership with </em><a href="https://thenewsstation.com/"><em>The News Station</em></a><em>, an online news publication that aims to foster dialogue centered on the diversity of the ever-evolving American culture.</em></p> </p> <p>Dear Mr. Chauvin:</p> <p>Since we are now on the same side of the legal system as convicted murderers, I thought it would be appropriate for me to give you some advice on how to navigate the prison system, and how you could find peace and contribute to society. But first, I must prepare you for sentencing day.</p> <p>It will be rough. Your victim’s family will express their pain and also say things about you that will hurt. Don’t expect the judge to be nice, either. The whole world will be watching him, and it will be in his best interest not to speak to you in glowing terms.</p> <p>Secondly, I know as you reflect on the events of that day, you are probably blaming George Floyd for what happened to him. That is not productive. I will give you the benefit of the doubt that you did not intend to kill him. Nevertheless, you must accept the fact that your unreasonable actions caused his death. Try to be contrite. It will take some time before you fully take responsibility, but it is the only way you could start the healing process.</p> <p>As someone who believes in restorative justice. I would like to suggest a way in which you can become helpful in reforming police tactics. I strongly believe you think you were doing the right thing, that you were adhering to standard operating procedure. Looking at what is happening to other Black men (and women) when they interact with the police. I cannot disagree with you.</p> <p>I urge you to speak openly about how the system failed you as it has been failing Blacks for years. Make suggestions that would improve the relationship between the police and the community they serve.</p> <p>Finally, I hope you get a reasonable sentence. You see, since we are now on the same side. I have no choice but to root for you. As I hope you would be rooting for me and other prison inmates like yourself.</p> <p>Sincerely,<br />M. Yayah Sandi</p> <p>This <a target="_blank" href="https://prisonjournalismproject.org/2021/05/06/sentencing-day-advice-for-chauvin/">article</a> first appeared on <a target="_blank" href="https://prisonjournalismproject.org">Prison Journalism Project</a> and is republished here under a Creative Commons license.<img src="https://i0.wp.com/prisonjournalismproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/cropped-PJP-favicon-2.png?fit=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1" style="width:1em;height:1em;margin-left:10px;"><img id="republication-tracker-tool-source" src="https://prisonjournalismproject.org/?republication-pixel=true&post=1299&ga=" style="width:1px;height:1px;"></p>

1