Stories
“It felt like a fairytale,” she says. “One of the most wonderful experiences of my life.”
Between the ages of 20 and 22 years old, I made terrible — life altering — choices where I eventually caused the death of another person and affected many lives, including my own. As a result, I lost my freedom and have spent almost my entire adult life incarcerated.
“My name is Joshua Jo’nathan Hairston. I am 35 years of age, and I have survived every day of my adulthood as a prisoner in the Virginia Department of Corrections.”
Since Denise Rock started the criminal justice reform group Florida Cares in August 2017, the organization has impacted reform and activism around the issue in the state in a remarkable way. Yet it got its start in the most ordinary of places. “Florida Cares came out of meeting people in the parking lots of prisons,”…
“I am granting your application [for clemency] because you have demonstrated the potential to turn your life around,” President Barack Obama wrote. “Now it is up to you to make the most of this opportunity.”
“My roots weren’t strong, and when the storms of life came, I couldn’t hold on,” says Charles Scott, currently serving more than 51 years in federal prison – 45 of which are “stacked” mandatory enhancements.
Too many people in Florida are serving long prison terms that don’t make communities safer. There are plenty of people locked up like Stephan Stuckey, who do not pose a risk to public safety yet languish in prison for decades, some of them seriously ill.
Michael is a veteran serving a mandatory 25-year sentence under Florida’s 10-20-Life law after he fired two shots in self-defense, shots that did not seriously injure his attacker.
Anthony was granted clemency after being in prison 29 years. He now fights to make our criminal justice system more just and appears in court on behalf of people still locked up, telling his story to lawmakers and the media.
“I’ve spent more time in prison than I’ve spent outside in society, and essentially grew up in prison,” says Antonio Howard, who lived in Pennsylvania state prison for more than 26 years. Yet today, what defines Antonio the most is not his imprisonment, but rather his vibrant relationship to art and his community. Now free, Antonio is a successful artist, author, activist, and paralegal.