Not a week goes by that we don’t see some example of someone with a long list of felons commit some horrific crime, and we’re left to ask why that person isn’t in prison.
Between politicians and judges, our jails basically have revolving doors. No number of felonies seems to be too many to get put right back out on the streets, only to commit crimes yet again. We’ve seen violent offenders get suspended sentences, for example, despite a long criminal record.
Then we have people like someone Slate talked about recently. While I’m sure most of the people who work at that publication wouldn’t agree with me about what color the sky is if given half a chance, the truth is that this time, they highlighted someone who has turned their life around while in prison, done so in a big way, and the governor of Oregon isn’t willing to sign a single document to allow this man to go free and continue important work.
Look, I’m a sucker for a redemption story, and this one should have Hollywood calling.
Christopher Havens has a part-time position as research staff at the University of California at Los Angeles. And he’s had a prolific few years. In June 2020, Havens published an article in the journal Research in Number Theory with co-authors from the University of Torino in Italy. Soon after, he published another article on the proceedings of a math conference held in Bratislava, Slovakia, with a co-author from Rome. Another five publications followed, including a 2025 textbook on continued fractions published by Springer.
Havens has never visited Italy or Slovakia. He hasn’t, despite his UCLA appointment, been in L.A. for a long time. He’s not allowed: He lives in Shelton, Washington, at the Washington Corrections Center. He’s been in prison for 16 years, since he was convicted of the murder of Randen Robinson.
Haven shot Robinson in the woods while Robinson was unconscious, then hid his body with a friend’s help.
Before the trial, Havens shaved his whole head. He wanted to look as tough as possible as he got his sentence: 25 years without parole. His dad’s words echoed in his head as he entered the prison in Walla Walla, where he was first placed: “Are you going to be a clown fish or a shark?”
He opted for shark. He went on a mission for a gang, assaulted a man, and was sent to solitary—an 8-by-12 concrete cell, neon lights on 24/7 and constant banging on metal bars. Many experience mental health crises after a few weeks. Havens played Sudoku. Then, he noticed envelopes being slipped under some of the bars and asked for one.
The envelope contained math worksheets. The solution was given in the next envelope, along with new worksheets. Havens got hooked. After a few months of back-and-forth, his last envelope contained a message: “Mr. Havens, at this time you have surpassed my mathematical ability, and I wish you luck on your journey.”
That was the start. Rather than continue along that path, he found an outlet in mathematics. He completed a program for inmates who wanted to turn their lives around, all while reading every bit of math-related content he could get his hands on.
After moving to a lower security prison, he reached out to the journal Annals of Mathematics and asked for a free subscription and a mentor. The author of the Slate piece was involved with one of the editors. She hooked Haven up with her parents, both mathematicians. Her mother, then a professor at Polytechnic University of Turin, began to help Havens.
Since then, he’s done a lot of work in the field of mathematics. He also met a woman, fell in love, and proposed to her. She’s not particularly well, but he says he loves her anyway. He says he wants to take care of her, while working at UCLA in the field of mathematics.
I mean, when it comes to a redemption arc, this is the kind of thing Hollywood could only dream of.
To cap it off, the Oregon clemency board voted 5-0 to grant clemency to Havens. Score, right?
Not quite.
You see, on January 6th of this year, Gov. Tina Kotek said granting clemency wouldn’t be “in the interest of justice.”
Now, I’m all about people being required to pay their debt to society when they cross that line, and Havens did. He’s done 16 years of a 25-year sentence, more than some people ever do, and he’s clearly changed a lot about his life. Meanwhile, there are people who continue to be violent getting put back on the streets within hours of committing crimes, getting lenient sentences or sweetheart deals to stay out of lockup, and the guy who became a math nerd is the one who needs to stay locked up in the interest of justice?
I’m sorry, I just don’t see the sense of it.
I’m still stuck on the transgender illegal alien who sexually assaulted a 14-year-old boy in a Manhattan bodega bathroom and got off with time served, while Havens has done a lot of time, made massive improvements to his life, and can’t get out. Yes, murder is different, but not enough to justify a discrepancy like this.
I also know that Oregon isn’t Manhattan, but it’s not supposed to matter. Equal protection before the law, right? While there are going to be some differences between various cases, it still feels like total BS that some monster can do that and walk away while the guy who did what we say prison is for–reforming the criminal, among other things–can’t have that reformation considered so he can move on with his life and advance the field of mathematics.
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