I don't know. I've communicated with Alex a few times over the last decade or so and he's always seemed one of the most rational, smart and pragmatic jail reformers I've ever know. He has always followed the legal path through the courts, even though it is often broken, trying to make it less broken for those coming behind.

You can't see inside anyone's mind. What caused him to commit his original offense that got him locked up for a decade? It wasn't a crime of necessity, I'm sure. Most crimes aren't. A lot of people commit crimes because some untreated mental health issue which lowers their self control. Then followed by ten years he was locked up, who knows what damage that did to his psyche which lay undiscovered?

edit: I've now read the rest of the article, and I knew nothing of the extensive mental health issues Alex suffers from