The Nation: VIEWS FROM BEHIND BARS

Harold MacEwen, 34, was paroled from Stateville prison in Illinois after serving 12½ years for killing an off-duty cop during an armed robbery. "The crime itself was inexcusable," says MacEwen, who is studying for his M.A. in psychology and works for the Illinois Department of Corrections. "But I was 20, and what I was also holds true for most young whites and blacks in ghetto slum areas. We would classify each other, and then we would have to live up to the classification. I thought I was hip, in the know, wise, and umpteen...

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