Free to Succeed: Ernest Boykin
“2027” is written boldly on the back of Ernest Boykin’s phone as a reminder of the year he would have been released, had he not...
A Lifetime of Remorse and Service to Others
Too many people in Pennsylvania are serving long prison terms that don’t make communities safer. There are plenty of people locked up like David Mandeville,...
When a Second Chance Means Powerhouse Advocacy
There’s nothing romantic about prison. But here’s a FAMM story that’s undeniably romantic. It’s about what happens when fierce advocacy, Fantasy Football, 35 birthday cards,...
A Racist Disparity, the EQUAL Act, and One Man’s Redemption
The Fair Sentencing Act of 2010 reduced the disparity in sentencing for crack cocaine and powder cocaine offenses from 100:1 to 18:1. But true justice...
Motivating everything we do here at FAMM are real people—prisoners, families with loved ones locked up, returning citizens—who experience firsthand our broken criminal justice system. When FAMM started more than three decades ago, it was the stories of these people that defined our mission and our work. And that hasn’t changed.
On this page, you’ll find many different kinds of stories, featuring people of all stripes from all over the country. Each and every one of their stories shows in sharp relief the problems with bad sentencing laws and prison policies. We hope that these stories educate and inspire you, just as they do for us.
Free to Succeed: Fulton “Mr. Wash” Washington
Almost as soon as he entered prison for a mandatory life sentence on drugs charges in 1997, Fulton “Mr. Wash” Washington got to work. He didn’t know whether or not he’d ever have an opportunity to join society again as...Read More
The Desperate Need for Oversight: A Prison Tragedy
In 2001, Kesha Jackson was browsing paintings at a fair in her Pittsburgh neighborhood when she spotted one she liked. She turned to the seller and locked eyes with John “Big John” Jackson. “The rest,” she says, “was history.” Read More
Free to Succeed: Peter Ninemire
To hear Peter Ninemire talk about his decades-long career in social work and addiction treatment, you’d never know that in 1990, he was number three on the state of Kansas’ most wanted list, or that a year later he’d be...Read More
Free to Succeed: Naomi Blount
“Over the years, I have written my obituary numerous times,” says Naomi Blount. “I never thought I would ever be coming home.” That’s because in 1982, she was sentenced to life in Pennsylvania state prison. She was 32 years old....Read More
Free to Succeed: Javier Reyes
Javier Reyes was three years into a 25-year robbery sentence when when Leroy Staley – a supervisor of recreation at a federal prison in Yazoo, Mississippi – asked him a question that would haunt him for days: “Mr. Reyes, have...Read More
Free to Succeed: Cecilia Cardenas
My name is Cecilia Cardenas, and before I tell you anything about me, I want to make one thing really clear: The biggest misconception about former prisoners is that we’re still living the lifestyle that got us into trouble and...Read More
Free to Succeed: Mandy Martinson
When a second chance means a chance to work hard to regain a profession lost and be there for a dying father … Mandy Martinson never thought she’d see the day when her father would be walking her down the...Read More
Free to Succeed: John Gargano
John Gargano graduated from New York University in May 2021 with a 3.91 GPA. Like a lot of recent graduates, he wasn’t sure what was in store, but he hoped to return to the restaurant industry, where he’d enjoyed the...Read More
Free to Succeed: Ernest Boykin
“2027” is written boldly on the back of Ernest Boykin’s phone as a reminder of the year he would have been released, had he not been granted compassionate release. “Every day not behind the fence, every day that I’m free,...Read More