Matthew Charles

Matthew Charles was sentenced to thirty-five years in 1996 for nonviolent drug offenses and is the first beneficiary of the First Step Act signed into law in 2018. Since then, Charles has been a Criminal Justice Reform Fellow for two years, speaking as an advocate for sentencing and prison reforms throughout the Nation. Charles has met with state legislators, governors, college students, and Congress about the need of basic and major judicial reforms, as well as the need to reduce mass incarceration in America. Charles also testified before the United States Senate calling for the end of warehousing people with unnecessary enhanced sentences.