Stories
Joshua Hairston has spent 17 years behind prison walls, almost half his entire life. He was 18 when he was sentenced to 40 years, and it’s almost impossible to imagine how someone that young — facing four decades inside — could find hope for any kind of meaningful future. But that’s exactly what he has…
The goal of my story is to let you know how awful prison lockdowns are and how they affect the people in prison and their families. My granddaughter Brooke is serving a 40-year sentence in a federal prison and in April will begin her 10th year. She has been sending me emails and letters about…
On January 15, 2026, Jerry James was granted a pardon on a 26-year sentence by former Virginia Gov. Youngkin. Jerry’s wife, Paulettra James, has been a staunch FAMM member for years. At one point over the years, Paulettra had the chance to hand-deliver Jerry’s clemency petition to the governor, saying, “I know you and your…
“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.