"Last Week Tonight With John Oliver" is a sarcasm based news television program, aired recently on November 10, 2015, according to The Wall Street Journal. The main discussion of topic for the show this week was on Prisoners, their life after release from the prison world and challenges faced by them in the society.
John Oliver, well known comedian and actor, who always comes up with current issues in the society to discuss on the show made this week's episode no exception to it. He explained on why such particular topic was chosen for discussion. He stated about the release of 6,000 drug case related prisoners.
Earlier, Fox News reported that around 6000 prisoners will be released under the "U.S. Sentencing Commission's new sentencing retroactivity guidelines for drug offenders."
The show highlighted the negative reactions of people including a clip showing Bill O'Reilly, a journalist and political commentator, talking about how the issue of prisoners release was considered to be racism. Oliver cleared the air for his audiences that every year state and federal prison release around 600,000 inmates and releasing 6000 prisoners was not such a big deal as it was just one percent of the former, reported Time.com.
According to The Wall Street Journal, not giving further importance to the political issues, John, 38, turned the angle of the show towards the afterlife of the prisoners after completion of their sentence period. He focused on the difficulties the prisoners faced in society, as in how they faced accommodation problems, less employment opportunities with acceptance issues.
The last section of the late night chat show usually features celebrity guests on the chat show. But this time it was an interview with an ex-convict, Bilal Chatman, who was imprisoned for almost 10 years under drug offense, reported Entertainment Weekly.
Bilal at present is a farmer and grows tomatoes. Bilal discussed about his life in prison and about challenges he faced after his release. He admitted to John on why he wanted to appear on the show at any cost. He expressed, "I guess I'm more worried about being judged for what I used to be. I'm not that same person. I've dedicated myself, I've changed myself," quoted The Wall Street Journal.
Bilal talked about how there is always a notion of judgment in the eyes of people who know him as a convict. He expressed his desire to make people see him as a changed person in the present and for the times to come, and not judge him by his past. He also wants to stand up for those prisoners who need help.
