B. Wayne Hughes Jr., a conservative multimillionaire who spent years working with Karl Rove to elect Republican candidates, could end up being one of the deciding factors in the vote for California’s Proposition 47, which would lower the status of many non-violent crimes from felonies to misdemeanors, keeping thousands of offenders from serving time behind bars. The businessman has donated 1.255 million dollars to help promote the bill, after a chance meeting coupled with governmental disillusionment led Hughes to discover the work of prison ministries across the country. He explains:

“Ninety-nine percent of everybody’s going to get out…and who do we want getting out — someone who’s angrier and more dangerous than they went in? Or do we want somebody who’s thinking about issues about peace and praise and forgiveness?”

Hughes is just one example of the growing bipartisan effort to reform the nation’s prisons. Prop 47 will be on next week’s ballot in the state of California.

Learn more about Hughes and his support of Prop 47 at huffingtonpost.com