Redemption Comes Before the Fall, New Memoir Reveals How a Convicted Murderer Became a Successful LA Lawyer
Adelanto, CA, May 30, 2009 --(PR.com)-- Outskirts Press author Moses Hall is not your average attorney. He’s a recovering alcoholic and drug abuser from a background of poverty and hardship. But this is not what makes him unique. Moses Hall is also a convicted murderer who spent seven years in prison before turning his life around. Redemption Comes Before the Fall is his story.
Moses Hall’s father died before Moses was born, leaving his mother the family’s sole support. It was a time of extreme poverty and stress for the family, with Moses and his brothers and sisters putting in 12-hour days at a nearby farm to help out. “Fighting was frequent with so many of us in an enclosed space with meager resources. Conflict arose over everything from rations of food at the dinner table to our mother’s affection.”
Moses discovered the comforting escape of alcohol when he was in the eighth grade, and drugs soon followed. He quickly turned to burglary to feed his drug habit, nonchalantly greeting the police during their frequent visits to his home. “People always turned us in, and visits from police became as regular as the break-ins. With loot still lining my pockets I would confess, and they would issue me a warning.”
When he was 14, Moses met with an attorney who treated him with respect and dignity, two things sorely lacking in his life, and he made the decision then and there to become a lawyer. But this decision did not change the course Hall’s life was taking at the time. “Though it was the beginning of the golden age for talented yet disadvantaged Blacks, I was oblivious. Integration of the schools had been just the beginning. Washington was making good for reneging on Forty Acres and a Mule. Scholarships were being created for promising people from my same station who otherwise would have been left to wither in hometown situations. I was lacking the promise. Opportunities were knocking like Mormons, and all I was compelled to be was a thug.” By the time he was 18, Moses was homeless, and stealing each day to get by. He was unemployable and faced a bleak future. “What could possibly be in store for such a wretch but grief?”
When the worst happened—when Moses Hall accidentally robbed a fellow human being of his life during the course of a robbery—he was sentenced to 45 years at Trenton State Prison in New Jersey, and there his story should have ended. But the point of Hall’s story is redemption, not resignation. “A college program was offered at the prison, so I enrolled. As I became more educated, I turned my attention to the law of prison. I joined the ACLU prison group and actually typed the first inmate prison legal manual. I helped a few guys get their sentences modified or overturned. I became known as a little jailhouse lawyer.” In June 1983, he was paroled, and Moses enrolled for the fall semester at Seton Hall University.
He chose to continue his education at Western State University in California, because California is a state that allows convicted felons to practice law as long as they can show a track record of rehabilitation.
And so the miraculous occurred. Moses Hall became a licensed attorney. He hoped that this huge accomplishment would diminish the self-loathing that once led to his drug abuse and criminal behavior, but it was not to be. Again, the lure of drugs and alcohol was too difficult to ignore. By the end of the first year of practice he was facing disciplinary charges for failing to provide accurate information to a client.
Finally, with the help of AA, he managed to make his way out of the jungle of self-destruction. He has been sober for ten years now, through daily choices of sobriety. “Today my God wakes me with joy, and joy encompasses me all the day long,” he says, his redemption clearly underway.
ISBN: 978-1-4327-3848-8 Format: 5.5 x 8.5 paperback SRP: $16.95
Genre: Nonfiction
About the Author: Moses Hall is a practicing attorney presently running two law offices in Southern California. Redemption Comes Before the Fall is his first book.
For more information or to contact the author, visit
www.outskirtspress.com/RedemptionComesBeforeTheFall.
About Outskirts Press, Inc.: Outskirts Press, Inc. offers full-service, custom self-publishing services for authors seeking a cost-effective, fast, and flexible way to publish and distribute their books worldwide while retaining all their rights and full creative control. Available for authors globally at www.outskirtspress.com and located on the outskirts of Denver, Colorado, Outskirts Press represents the future of book publishing, today.
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Outskirts Press, Inc., 10940 S. Parker Rd - 515, Parker, Colorado 8014
http://outskirtspress.com 1-888-OP-BOOKS
Moses Hall’s father died before Moses was born, leaving his mother the family’s sole support. It was a time of extreme poverty and stress for the family, with Moses and his brothers and sisters putting in 12-hour days at a nearby farm to help out. “Fighting was frequent with so many of us in an enclosed space with meager resources. Conflict arose over everything from rations of food at the dinner table to our mother’s affection.”
Moses discovered the comforting escape of alcohol when he was in the eighth grade, and drugs soon followed. He quickly turned to burglary to feed his drug habit, nonchalantly greeting the police during their frequent visits to his home. “People always turned us in, and visits from police became as regular as the break-ins. With loot still lining my pockets I would confess, and they would issue me a warning.”
When he was 14, Moses met with an attorney who treated him with respect and dignity, two things sorely lacking in his life, and he made the decision then and there to become a lawyer. But this decision did not change the course Hall’s life was taking at the time. “Though it was the beginning of the golden age for talented yet disadvantaged Blacks, I was oblivious. Integration of the schools had been just the beginning. Washington was making good for reneging on Forty Acres and a Mule. Scholarships were being created for promising people from my same station who otherwise would have been left to wither in hometown situations. I was lacking the promise. Opportunities were knocking like Mormons, and all I was compelled to be was a thug.” By the time he was 18, Moses was homeless, and stealing each day to get by. He was unemployable and faced a bleak future. “What could possibly be in store for such a wretch but grief?”
When the worst happened—when Moses Hall accidentally robbed a fellow human being of his life during the course of a robbery—he was sentenced to 45 years at Trenton State Prison in New Jersey, and there his story should have ended. But the point of Hall’s story is redemption, not resignation. “A college program was offered at the prison, so I enrolled. As I became more educated, I turned my attention to the law of prison. I joined the ACLU prison group and actually typed the first inmate prison legal manual. I helped a few guys get their sentences modified or overturned. I became known as a little jailhouse lawyer.” In June 1983, he was paroled, and Moses enrolled for the fall semester at Seton Hall University.
He chose to continue his education at Western State University in California, because California is a state that allows convicted felons to practice law as long as they can show a track record of rehabilitation.
And so the miraculous occurred. Moses Hall became a licensed attorney. He hoped that this huge accomplishment would diminish the self-loathing that once led to his drug abuse and criminal behavior, but it was not to be. Again, the lure of drugs and alcohol was too difficult to ignore. By the end of the first year of practice he was facing disciplinary charges for failing to provide accurate information to a client.
Finally, with the help of AA, he managed to make his way out of the jungle of self-destruction. He has been sober for ten years now, through daily choices of sobriety. “Today my God wakes me with joy, and joy encompasses me all the day long,” he says, his redemption clearly underway.
ISBN: 978-1-4327-3848-8 Format: 5.5 x 8.5 paperback SRP: $16.95
Genre: Nonfiction
About the Author: Moses Hall is a practicing attorney presently running two law offices in Southern California. Redemption Comes Before the Fall is his first book.
For more information or to contact the author, visit
www.outskirtspress.com/RedemptionComesBeforeTheFall.
About Outskirts Press, Inc.: Outskirts Press, Inc. offers full-service, custom self-publishing services for authors seeking a cost-effective, fast, and flexible way to publish and distribute their books worldwide while retaining all their rights and full creative control. Available for authors globally at www.outskirtspress.com and located on the outskirts of Denver, Colorado, Outskirts Press represents the future of book publishing, today.
###
Outskirts Press, Inc., 10940 S. Parker Rd - 515, Parker, Colorado 8014
http://outskirtspress.com 1-888-OP-BOOKS
Contact
Outskirts Press
Kelly Schuknecht
888.672.6657
www.outskirtspress.com
Kelly Schuknecht
888.672.6657
www.outskirtspress.com
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