James Brown should feel good.

After all, the godfather of soul was released last week after serving 15 months of a six-year prison sentence for aggravated assault.

Brown will earn at least the minimum wage of $3.80 at a work-release program in Columbia, S.C., teaching youths about the dangers of illegal drugs and alcohol. He will spend the weekends at the minimum-security Lower Savanah Work Center near Aiken.

Although it is a brand new bag, Brown knows the territory.

His parole comes after being convicted for storming into an insurance agency and claiming strangers used his bathroom. Tests showed Brown used PCP.

He was convicted for aggravated assault and weapons violations.

In 1988, he allegedly shot his wife’s car and attacked her with a lead pipe.

In July, 1988, he was convictd for possessing PCP, resisting arrest and carrying a pistol. But he violated the probation when he tested positive for marijuana and PCP.

With Brown’s long list of credentials, and super-human Rev. Jessie Jackson spearheading the “Free James Brown” movement, how can Brown go wrong?

When someone figures out why superstar criminals are released early to teach children a lesson they obviously have not learned themselves—don’t say anything. No one will believe you.