Diane’s Story: I Moved 180 Degrees on Compassion
Diane has been a part of the FAMMily for years now. She is a tireless advocate for her husband, and she is a source of...
Compassionate Release Clearinghouse: Damiene Lewis
On April 24, 2020, Damiene Lewis was granted compassionate release and sent home. “That’s a huge blessing,” he says now, from his mother’s home in...
Jomari DeLeon: Pressured Into a Terrible Decision
Jomari DeLeon made two drug sales over 24 hours, making less than $200. Kingpin? Hardly. Yet this first-time offender was sentenced to 15 years. Even...
Chris Young: “Barely on the Totem Pole” and Life in Prison
The judge at Chris Young’s trial described his life sentence as “way out of whack.” The absurdity of his punishment is matched, though, by the...
Clearinghouse para Liberación Compasiva: Margarita Zamora
“Tuve una infancia difícil”, dice Margarita Zamora. “Mi padre nunca quiso tener nada que ver conmigo. Cuando se enteró de que mi mamá estaba embarazada, la dejó porque él era un hombre casado. Mi mama siempre tenía muchas relaciones cortas....Read More
An Unimaginable Sentence
When Darlene Wells and Jesse Dunaway met, it was “empathy at first sight.” She was working as a nurse at the institution where Jesse is a prisoner, and he was working in the staff dining hall. “You get to see...Read More
Judy’s Story: So Many Mothers Missing Their Sons
My name is Judy McCarroll. My son’s name is Lawrence McCarroll. We were both sent to prison for drug offenses in 1995. I was sentenced to 27 years, and Lawrence was sentenced to 33. For both of us, this was...Read More
La historia de Claire: La Defensa Empieza Pequeña, Luego Florece
Me llamo Claire Tate. Soy la vicepresidente de una organización sin fines lucrativos de justicia criminal en Arizona llamada S.T.A.R.T. Project (Striving to Achieve Reform Together — Luchando Por Alcanzar la Reforma Juntos), uno de los socios de FAMM. Estamos...Read More
In the Eyes of the Law, First-time Offender Is a Trafficker
William Wilder is no kingpin. In fact, he did not even sell drugs. In 2018, he bought 14.3 grams of methamphetamine from a confidential informant. And now he’s in prison for a first-degree felony for trafficking. There is a very,...Read More
Compassionate Release Clearinghouse: Margarita Zamora
“I had a rough childhood,” says Margarita Zamora. “My father never wanted nothing to do with me. When he found out my mom was pregnant with me, he left her because he was a married man. My mom was always...Read More
Compassionate Release Clearinghouse: Lea Anne Blystone
Lea Anne Blystone was sentenced to seven years in federal prison. She wasn’t sentenced to die. But when COVID hit her prison, her medical conditions made her especially vulnerable to the potentially fatal disease. Here, she describes her journey from...Read More
Gerald Tarboro: A Story of Second Chances
My story is about two second chances. The first is mine – I got one. I spent 11 years in prison, and I was released a little early because of the First Step Act. The other one I want to...Read More
Compassionate Release Clearinghouse: Ernest Boykin
Ernest Boykin was 41, not halfway through a 15-year sentence in federal prison, and COVID had been hitting prisons hard for months. He had underlying medical conditions that put him at high risk if he contracted the disease, and on...Read More