Former gang member Alfred Medina Jr., who served 17 years for drug-related crimes, lives at a residence for ex-prisoners run by the Amity Foundation in Los Angeles. The stars tattooed on his face, which he says used to represent six rival gang members he stabbed in prison, now stand for his six children. Tony Avelar/The Christian Science Monitor
Alfred Taylor, a convicted murderer who served 41 years in prison, watches television at the Francisco Home-Leighton house, a residence run by the Partnership for Re-Entry Program in Los Angeles. Tony Avelar/The Christian Science Monitor
The outside of the Francisco Home-Leighton house in Los Angeles. It houses 16 ex-convicts. Tony Avelar/The Christian Science Monitor
Roman Catholic Sisters Mary Sean Hodges (r.) and Teresa Groth run the only program in California that offers housing and jobs to prisoners with life sentences who have been released on parole. They currently are sheltering about 60 former inmates in Los Angeles. Tony Avelar/The Christian Science Monitor
Former inmate Jason Corralez stands in a upholstering shop in Los Angeles, where he has been working after getting out of prison. He served 29 years for second-degree murder. Tony Avelar/The Christian Science Monitor
Jason Corralez, sews some of the fabric that he will use to reupholster a couch at the Star Services shop in Los Angeles. Before he landed the job, the 42-year-old was turned down several times. Tony Avelar/The Christian Science Monitor
Mark Faucette (r.), a vice president of the Amity Foundation, chats with staff at a group home in Los Angeles. Tony Avelar/The Christian Science Monitor
A kitchen worker serves lunch to over 150 Amity residents of the Amity Foundation House in Los Angeles Tony Avelar/The Christian Science Monitor
Former gang member Edwin Hueta (back turned) eats lunch with other parolees in the dining hall at the Amity Foundation house in Los Angeles. Tony Avelar/The Christian Science Monitor
Sister Teresa Groth (l.), helps former inmates, Paul Cortez (c.) and James Burden (r.), work at a computer at the office of Restorative Justice, for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles. Tony Avelar/The Christian Science Monitor
Carl Adkisson (l.), a recovering drug addict, writes in his bunk bed at the Amity Foundation house. Tony Avelar/The Christian Science Monitor
Carl Adkisson shares a room with 3 other parolees at the Amity Foundation House in Los Angeles. Tony Avelar/The Christian Science Monitor
Bruce Davis, a former follower of Charles Manson, was sentenced to life in prison in 1972. On Thursday, after 40 years in prison, a panel recommended his parole.
A former Charles Manson follower imprisoned for 40 years in a double murder engineered by Manson won a recommendation of parole Thursday in his 27th appearance before a parole board panel.
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