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♪

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I’m about to read a letter from my son that he wrote me.

♪

And it says, "This is from me to you.

I will finally have my high school graduation

September the 15th this year.

I will take some pictures and send them.

I really do miss you

and promise to take good care of you

for everything when I come home."

♪

They came to my house and got him.

So, that was, um,

that was like 5:00 or 6:00 in the morning.

So, the next day,

I went down there to the courthouse,

and I don’t remember who this lady was,

but she came to me and told me, "You know,

your son looking to serve life in prison."

So, I said, "What did he do?"

And, so, she said, "The third strike."

♪

My dad has always been a leader.

He’s done a lot for the people,

even when he was free and out before he was incarcerated.

My dad, to a certain degree, was, you know, even involved

in the political world.

♪

He does not deserve this.

He deserves to be home with his family.

I’ve been a Cook County sheriff’s deputy

for the last 17 years.

I have a brother who has been incarcerated

and in the...

...the worst forms of incarceration,

myself being in that-- in that industry, uh,

we’re talking about a person that’s never been violent,

doesn’t have a long rap sheet, never killed anybody,

yet he’s serving a life sentence

in the federal penitentiary system.

So I stepped out

against my own Republican administration

and said openly on the floor of the Senate

that I believe these crack cocaine laws

were too harsh with-- and particularly,

it was disadvantageous

to the African American community

where most of the punishments were falling,

and it was not fair, and we ought to fix it.

I want an attorney general who is committed

to supporting law enforcement and securing law and order,

but that is not enough.

The justice system, as it stands now, is biased

against the poor, against drug-addicted,

against mentally ill, and against people of color.

♪

And I used to say, um,

"How are you gonna get life," you know?

He--he ain’t murdered no one.

People that murder people don’t even get life.

You know, so...

♪

Um, I just took it one day at a time,

because, uh,

twenty-two years is a long time.

♪

In the year 1994,

at the age of 24,

Alton Mills was given

a mandatory life sentence

without parole

for a low-level, non-violent drug offense.

I ended up being contacted by his public defender.

She has this wonderful name.

She’s from Chicago, her name is MiAngel Cody.

MiAngel Cody contacted me

and told me Alton Mills’ story,

how this kid growing up in Chicago,

decent kid in high school, made a bad turn,

got mixed up with a drug gang,

was a sales runner on the street,

just the lowest possible level,

and on the third offense got a life sentence

to spend the rest of his life in prison.

I asked President Obama to take a look at this

and consider commutation, and on December 2015,

after serving 22 years in prison,

Alton Mills came home to Chicago.

It started out I was doing activism work

in New Orleans,

particularly around the death penalty.

So, for about seven years,

I worked with capital defense lawyers.

I think I went to death row the first time when I was 19

to visit someone in Angola,

and that was like the first time

I had ever gone behind the curtain

of the Wizard of Oz and really just saw

what America says are the worst of the worst,

um, and realized there are human beings

at the heart of these cases that you hear about.

♪

So, welcome to TDC.

This is where the magic happens.

LaSheda was my best friend in elementary school.

Best friends, we’re both from the West Side of Chicago,

grew up together.

And my family was very well known

in our neighborhood and especially at our school.

Like, the administrators all knew who we were,

you know, so I was very popular.

I was very popular. I had, like, five, six cousins

in the same grade as me.

But, you know, the older you get...

It was third grade.

This is what’s happening.

She started hanging out with other people,

leaving me behind.

She tried to make friends with other people,

like, make them her best friends,

and as a child, best friends, that’s a real thing.

Like, you don’t just be naming everybody your best friend.

You take that serious.

After that, no more best friends.

We did not say a word to each other.

I never saw her again until TDC Law Firm.

I just keep going back to the day MiAngel was like,

"Yeah, you know, we’re gonna have an intern coming.

Yeah, her name is LaSheda."

I was like, "LaSheda?

Of all the girl names, LaSheda would pop up."

That’s exactly how I said it.

So, then, I’m looking at her like, "Whoa,

like, you’re in the military, you went to law school."

Like, I have so much admiration

and respect for you right now that it’s kind of weird

’cause I thought for sure I would not like you

for the rest of my life.

And I was like, "Dang, she out here freeing people.

Like, she’s so amazing."

I’m like, "She’s like this Chicago activist.

She’s giving back to the community."

This is Black history that we are making.

We are Black history, it’s in the making.

Even if we don’t, our story is gonna make it!

Mm, that’s right!

Are you guys friends now, would you say?

This is one of my best friends.

Yes, we are!

Ooh.

I think I know this by heart.

Thank you, Verizon.

To hear us, you may start the conversation now.

-Hello? -Hey, how are you doing?

Hi, Dad!

-What you doing? -So we’re being recorded,

so you can’t say anything crazy.

So, you remember the law firm I was working at

and the client I told you we got out?

-Yeah. -So, right now,

we’re actually recording a documentary

regarding her work and how she always gets people

off the life sentences from their drug sentence.

So we’re being recorded right now,

and I told them about you yesterday.

And now I’m here, and you ironically called

during the time we were filming.

-Why not? -So...

So when are they moving you?

I think he’s feeling the distance.

Like, he’s feeling like I’m leaving him behind

because now I’m, like, starting my life.

And I feel it in his voice.

We went to see him last week, and I felt it.

And he’s put in every type of appeal he can.

In 2015, he had a little bit of luck.

With him being--he was 17 when he was sentenced to life.

And the Illinois public court said, like,

he was too young to understand

everything that was going on to receive the sentence.

But, then, this year, the Supreme Court

sent it back, like, no.

♪

I’m a daughter of formally incarcerated people.

I’m a sister of a currently incarcerated brother.

I want to do something for the women

who are the backbones of these communities.

I had reached out to MiAngel about helping,

and she was like, "Well, let’s do it."

Every step of the way she was like,

"What do you want to do?"

I tell her what I want to do,

and she just supported me in making it happen.

♪

So, once I started working with her

and she would talk to me, like, beyond the cases,

it blew my mind.

She would share her personal situation.

So when she shared, like, her father

being in and out of prison, I was shocked.

And it helped me because I’ve had to be

a certain way to be a successful lawyer.

Like, for people to take me serious,

I have to be this way.

And to know that she’s the person

that I idolize, but her father has been

in and out of prison, I feel so comfortable.

And it gave me confidence to know

that I can be comfortable that my father is in prison,

but I’m still a lawyer, but I’m still in the military.

I’m still doing these things, but my father is in prison.

And I was so glad when she said it

’cause it just made me feel accepted.

It made me feel like it’s okay.

I started writing my first clemency petition in 2012.

And at that point, President Obama had

never granted a clemency before.

There were plenty of people who told me specifically,

"He’s never gonna grant this.

It’s never gonna happen."

But I just felt like my clients’ stories

deserve being told on an individual--

in a nuanced way,

and not only for them, but for each one of us

to have to wrestle with the facts,

like, have to wrestle with the reality

of this person’s life.

You don’t get to just put someone in prison for life

and not listen to who they are.

And that started this clemency process

that later was formulized into looking at hundreds of--

there are thousands of petitions.

But I think that that’s really important

is to just do the work, center the clients,

center the stories, center who they are,

and create a public conversation.

♪

My name is Vanessa Rosa.

My dad is Ismael Rosa,

and he’s currently in Pekin, Illinois.

He is serving a life sentence

in a federal correction institute.

♪

I was 18

when my father was arrested.

It’s very hard to speak about that day.

When I heard the judge say, you know, "life in prison,"

my reaction, I kind of...

♪

...cried out, and he heard me,

and he turned around and he glimpsed at me,

and when he glimpsed and looked my way

and we made eye contact,

um, there was so much pain there

because I knew that he was being stripped from us.

Almost as if he was...

...dying, you know, in a sense

or he wasn’t gonna be there anymore.

I think a lot of people don’t understand the way

the Three Strikes law works,

and a lot of people don’t understand the way

it was intended to work.

So, the way it was intended to work is to punish

the worst of the worst drug offenders,

the repeat recidivist who kept getting in trouble,

who’d been to prison, got out, and continued to sell drugs.

So the law was enacted to make sure

that those people were

permanently incapacitated, right?

So the similarly dangerous drug offenders

got similarly harsh punishments.

But what has happened

is it hasn’t been implemented that way.

So you might have someone who had their first strike

was possession of marijuana back in the 1980s.

Their second strike was possession of cocaine,

a personal use amount of cocaine

back in the 1990s.

And then they get a federal case

and that’s their third strike.

So that person may have never even been

to prison before.

They may have had probation,

they may have successfully completed probation,

but those two prior drug convictions

can be used by a prosecutor to rationalize

a mandatory federal life sentence.

♪

Senator Sessions, you said of President Obama’s pardoning

of people like Alton Mills, and I quote:

"President Obama continues to abuse executive power

in an unprecedented, reckless manner

to systematically release high-level drug traffickers

and firearms felons.

So-called low-level, non-violent offenders

simply do not exist

in the federal system," you said.

Senator Sessions, Alton Mills and many more

just like him do exist.

So if you refuse to even acknowledge

the fundamental injustice of many of our sentencing laws,

why should you be entrusted with the most important

criminal prosecution office in America?

It’s a hard situation

because two things are gonna happen

when you go to prison:

either you’re gonna make it or you ain’t.

You have to be a very strong individual

to put up with the madness that goes inside.

It’s a lot that we have to go through

on this side of the world.

The air is different, the food is different.

♪

It’s nothing like being free.

The criminological field is just filled

with theories as to, one,

what causes crime, and, then,

how do we address that crime?

And no two criminologists

will agree on those theories.

So one has to be very careful of that.

So, probably the bigger question is,

is three strikes or minimum mandatory sentencing

a panacea for the crime problem

in the United States?

And it depends on who you ask.

Politicians will use it

as an advantage to scare people.

People are easily frightened by stories

about crime and violence, but, yet,

when we think about

minimum mandatory sentencing as a fix,

one has to be careful of fixing what?

From a practical standpoint, it has not reduced drug use,

it hasn’t reduced drug trafficking

or the amount of drugs in this country.

If anything, it has done only a service

of warehousing people who are associated with drugs,

who are disproportionately African American

and disproportionately poor people.

The question is, what do we do with this?

♪

It’s been hard on my siblings.

I think it’s been harder for them,

especially my little sister because she only had my dad

for the first five, six years of her life.

It’s been hard for her.

She didn’t have him like I did.

And that, that hurts.

When Ismael took custody of his children,

men were not being awarded custody.

You know, he really had to be a stand-up model

before the judge to win custody

of his children back then.

It was just unheard of.

I know that a lot of us,

um, if we had our dad,

then we would have made better decisions as adults.

It’s different, it’s very different.

And it’s made things harder

because, you know, you’re alone.

No matter what, you’re alone.

Many people don’t realize that parole

in the federal system was abolished in the 1980s

right during the height of the War on Drugs.

That is also the time when they abolished

the federal parole.

So, when a judge looks at you and says

that you’ll receive a life sentence,

that means you will die in prison.

It’s death by imprisonment.

There is no ability to get out of that.

It’s not like in state court where there’s parole,

you do 25 years, you go before a parole board

and that parole board looks at you,

looks at your rehabilitation in prison and says,

"Okay, you’ve learned your lesson."

And that’s one of the sad realities

of federal prison is that there’s no board

who can look at you after 25 years,

see strides in rehabilitation, and release you.

♪

We have 5,000 prisoners sitting in federal prison,

still there, and all I’ve asked,

allow them as individuals to petition to the judge,

to the prosecutor, to the Department of Justice

so that their sentences can be considered.

That--that’s something you’ve opposed.

So, in fairness, tell me why you still oppose that.

I understood the sincere belief you had on that issue,

and it was a difficult call,

and that’s why we really never worked it out.

So I understand what you’re saying,

but I did believe that you are upsetting

finality in the justice system,

that you are suggesting

that these kind of factors were not considered

when the plea bargaining went down.

So it’s an honorable debate to have,

and I respect your position on it.

♪

The first time I tried cocaine, I was 17, at a park...

♪

...hanging out with some of my friends.

I was introduced to it

by my friend Dink’s older brother.

♪

And the feeling was kind of surreal.

♪

It’s a feeling that you’re always chasing

that first high.

It makes you feel like you don’t have any worries

or any cares.

You’re just in that moment,

and everything just seems easy.

You know, life is whatever you may be stressed about

or worried about, it just goes away,

just feel that ease and at peace with yourself.

♪

I think one thing that makes this work

whole and necessary

is looking at who is the human being

at the heart of each one of these cases.

And when we have a system that formulaically

rubber-stamps sentences for life onto people,

what happens is, the judge doesn’t get to consider

who is that person?

Where did they come from?

What is their story of struggle?

Were they homeless? Were they addicted?

Did they have addicted parents?

Are they literate?

What was the level of education that they have?

What kind of healthcare?

What kind of mental health illnesses do they have?

All of that gets wiped away

when you have a mandatory sentence.

None of that gets to play into the calculus

of the punishment that they receive.

And the problem with that is, all of that is relevant

to how they ended up in court in the first place.

And, so, people walk into court

with their entire history of who they are,

their life, their parents, their upbringing,

and they have to leave all of that at the door

at sentencing.

♪

Jeff Sessions,

the Attorney General of the United States,

has submitted his letter of resignation.

We understand that the president asked

for Sessions’ resignation this morning.

The letter from Jeff Sessions starts off saying,

"In response to your request from this morning,

I hereby submit my resignation."

♪

♪

The first time I really recognized

that my son was facing this sentence was when...

♪

...I went to court on the last court date

because I didn’t think it was that serious,

and I never went to court with him.

I didn’t take off of work or anything and go to court

because I didn’t think my son had been a person that--

I never had to go get him out of trouble.

And he was 40 years old,

and I had never been to jail to get him out of anything.

And this was so confusing to me.

My son could’ve took the ten years

if he thought it was that serious,

but he didn’t take it.

He said, "No, I didn’t do anything,

and I’m not taking the ten years."

We’re not thinking they’re gonna give him no life

because he didn’t take the ten years they offered him.

If you’re offered a plea negotiation,

which is usually a reduced number of years or sentence,

and if you turn that down,

the prosecutors will usually withdraw that deal,

basically saying, "Okay, no more.

You don’t want this deal?

Okay, great, it’s off the table."

And, now, if you go to trial,

what can happen is if you’re found guilty,

you can be sentenced at a higher rate.

Now that doesn’t mean that it’s automatic,

but it’s what they refer to as a trial tax.

I recently found out my dad had a life sentence.

For years, like, my dad’s been in prison,

but I’ve never heard those words

come out of his mouth.

Never. And still till today he does not say them.

He’s never said them to me.

I only know now because I’m learning more

about his case.

When someone gets sent to prison,

you are not just incarcerating one person.

There are concentric circles that ripple out,

and the effects of one person’s incarceration

really makes waves.

It makes waves for their family,

for their children.

For example, Edward Douglas,

his daughter, Shanice, has not hugged him

since she was eight years old.

She’s 23.

That has a profound and traumatic impact

upon not only your sense of safety

and belonging in the world, but your understanding

of the American criminal justice system,

what it’s meant to do and who it’s meant to protect.

He’s missed so much, oh my God.

First boyfriend, first--my graduation.

I went to prom twice.

I--I was an athlete in high school.

I won state championship.

One year, I won first place,

and the next year, I went back, I won second place.

He missed that.

I know he would’ve been so proud of that

’cause my dad is an athlete himself.

It’s just so much he’s missed,

like, my first going to college

and, like, practically

the milestone of my life.

He’s missed all of that.

I had been in the hospital, I had back surgery,

and I couldn’t talk to my child

for five whole months on the phone

because they wouldn’t let him call the hospital

because it wasn’t on the list,

and they wouldn’t let him call me.

When I came home out of the hospital,

I picked up the phone, and they started telling me

it was from the prison.

I said, "Hello," and he said, "Hello, woman!"

’Cause that’s what he always calls me:

"Hello, woman!"

And I bust up a side cramp.

For my father to be in prison,

he’s still a father, he’s still...

You know, like, a lot of people say, like,

"Oh, because he’s behind bars, he can’t be a father."

Like, a lot of people are shocked to say--

to hear me say that my father has

always still been my father.

I say that because he’s always given me great advice,

never steered me wrong in anything,

and he still does for me.

In time of need, even behind bars,

he still makes it happen.

My dad, um,

to me, growing up was

he was my leader, my teacher,

my mom and dad in one.

He taught me how to fish.

Um...

And not just fish for fish, but fish for crabs,

and I used to love going to the river in Puerto Rico

and fishing with him.

♪

I want to get married one day, and like every girl,

she wants her father to walk her down the aisle.

Am I willing to wait on my father?

Yes, I am willing to do that.

I will do that because I have faith

and I believe that he’ll get out.

One of the real perversions of the Three Strikes drug law

is that it only counts drug strikes.

So, if you have a person who committed a murder in 1989

or a kidnapping in 1992,

and then they’re caught with 140 grams of crack in 2003,

that person only has one drug strike,

so they’re not facing a mandatory minimum

of life in prison.

But then you have someone like Edward Douglas

who possessed marijuana in 1989

and then possessed a small amount of cocaine in 1992,

and under the Three Strikes drug law,

he’s subject to a mandatory minimum,

whereas the person who had committed

violent crimes before was not.

Where I’m working on a state-local level,

I’ve got a case where the man walked up

to a parked car, shot the victim in the face,

killed him immediately,

and given the circumstances of the case,

he got six years in prison.

So six years in prison

for shooting a man in the face and killing him,

as opposed to life in prison without parole

in the federal system

for having three drug charges.

It just doesn’t seem to balance out there.

Like, it’s completely unfair.

You can have a very violent background

and rap sheet and still not have the three strikes

for drug convictions.

And that’s really illogical,

and it’s contrary to the idea of public safety.

The Senate overwhelmingly passed

a criminal justice reform bill on Tuesday night.

The First Step Act would change sentencing laws,

establish more early release programs,

and expand job training meant to reduce recidivism.

-Hello? -Hi, Ms. Douglas?

-Hi, how you doing? -Good morning, how are you?

-I’m doing fine, and you? -I’m doing well.

I wanted to just call and let you know

that I just got off of the phone with the judge.

-We had a hearing... -Yes.

...and the judge signed the order

to release Edward immediately.

Oh my God.

Girl...

I told you you was bad.

I don’t know how much my heart can take.

Oh, Ms. Douglas!

That means the whole team is joined with you forever now.

That’s what I want.

-Joined with me forever! -Yeah!

Yeah, you won’t forget about us, will you?

Oh, not at all.

How am I gonna forget about you?

He come home--when he come home,

he coming down there and work with y’all.

He’s coming to join the fight.

♪

Perfect, perfect.

Lady, lady, lady,

your mama named you the right thing

’cause she knew what you was gonna do.

MiAngel, she walked in my door.

Your name is MiAngel, but God sent you to be my angel.

Oh, Ms. Douglas, thank you.

-Hello? -Hi, Mr. Douglas, how are you?

-Hey, Ms. Cody, how you doing? -I’m good!

So, we wanted to talk to you about some things

that are happening in your case.

Okay.

Um, the government has agreed to immediately release you.

-Okay. -The judge is going to have you,

um, be present to participate in a hearing today.

-It’s gonna happen by phone. -Okay.

Um, here’s what’s gonna happen:

both sides, your defense lawyer and the prosecutor,

are going to tell the judge that we all agree

that you are overserving time in prison

and that you should be immediately released.

(he cries)

(sobbing)

(groans)

Excuse me. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Take your time, take your time, take your time.

Ah!

Take as much time as you need.

Mm.

I’ll be glad to see my mom and my kids.

Yeah.

Yeah!

Girl, I don’t know what to do, okay?

I don’t want to overspill.

I don’t want to be too excited on the phone.

I don’t want to feel like-- you know what I’m saying?

I don’t want to be-- I was screaming when he told me

’cause he was telling me, too.

I had to put the phone on mute.

I was acting a motherfucking fool.

I don’t know what to do or say, okay?

I don’t know if it’s appropriate.

Joy is always appropriate!

I know, I know.

Goddamn, I would’ve been on the phone like,

"Edward, you coming home!"

(laughing)

Okay? "Edward, get your shit!"

(laughing)

"Get your shit!

And wait for me at the door, okay?

Be at the wall like this, okay?

I’m pulling up."

Shit, I don’t know what to do.

(indistinct chatter)

-That’s him? -That’s him.

(telephone ringing)

(indistinct chatter)

I told Mom the same thing.

-Hi. -Hi, I’m just filming.

(indistinct chatter)

-Mi? -MiAngel.

(squealing, laughing)

(screeching)

(laughing)

How you doing?

(laughing)

-You all right? -Yeah.

I love you.

(laughing)

Oh, it’s so good to see you, Mom.

Oh, I love you.

Aw, Grandma.

♪

Hey.

♪

How you doing, woman?

♪

How are you? Good to see you.

-How you doing? -Good, and yourself?

All right.

-Edward! -Oh my goodness!

(indistinct chatter)

Thank you, thank you very much.

-I appreciate everything. -Oh my goodness.

-It’s nice to meet you. -So nice to meet you.

What a pleasure to meet you.

This is Jeanne.

She is a cinematographer.

Hi, how you doing?

And then there’s John right here.

-Hi, how you doing? -He’s a local boy.

-All right, local? -Yeah.

Nice to meet you.

Have a seat, have a seat.

Please sit down.

♪

9:45, my counselor opens the door,

so I jumped up, like, "What you opening the door for?"

He said, "No, no, your lawyer called and said

you got a conference call with the...

...with the...

...with the...

♪

...with the judge," right?

So, uh, so when she said,

"You’re gonna get immediate release,"

I just dropped the phone and started crying.

And they was crying with me, and I’m looking at them like--

I’m like, "What is y’all crying for?"

You know, I’m really looking at them,

and it was genuine, and they was like,

"We’re really happy for you.

You know, you’re one of the best inmates

that we have dealt with."

And I’m like, "Thank you."

So, then, once I got through from talking to her

and she tells me what’s happening,

so I say, "Okay."

So I goes back out to the common area

and we got tables, so I just jumped on the table

and I say, "Y’all, I’m getting immediate release!"

So all the guys, and we got like 120--

I kid you not, we got like 120 guys

in the pod with us, and they just run

and they just jumping on tables with me, right?

"Yeah! Yeah! Thank you!"

And we just hugging, and we just hugging, right?

And they say, "For real," I say, "Yes, they just told me.

I just got to talk to the judge."

So, then, they come back and they say,

"Hey, y’all got to lock down for, like, ten minutes."

So they say, "We ain’t locking down.

We all got to hug him."

So all 127 came and just hugged me, you know.

Yes, every last-- everybody in there.

So, in the debate about the First Step Act,

one of the primary opponents of that legislation

was a senator in Arkansas who kept raising this idea

that we’ll be less safe,

that we’ll let dangerous criminals

out on the street.

I always thought that was an interesting argument,

because when you look at who is actually going to prison

under the Three Strikes law,

and when you compare that to who is cooperating

and becoming government informants,

what we found is the person who’s more dangerous

is the one who cooperates with the government,

who gets a get out of jail free card,

who gets a reduced sentence,

and people like Edward Douglas,

who are low-level fishes who have no information

about anyone else to cooperate,

they’re the ones who end up going to prison for life.

So, for example, in Edward’s case,

the confidential informant that the government chose

to wear a wire to set him up

had prior convictions for armed robbery

and attempted murder.

Edward Douglas had no priors

other than possessing marijuana in the 1980s

and possessing cocaine in the 1990s.

That informant ended up getting probation

for setting up Edward.

What he did with that get out of jail free card

was went out and committed more crime.

He kidnapped someone and he committed a robbery

to the tune of $750,000.

So at the same time while Edward is sitting

in federal prison for life,

this cooperator is out committing more crime.

And many times what I find

is if you don’t surrender your trial rights,

if you exercise your Sixth Amendment right

to a trial and you lose,

you’re going to prison for life.

And that’s really not about public safety.

That’s about prosecutorial efficiency,

which is not justice.

You know, if you do something,

you’re supposed to be held accountable for it.

I truly understand.

But I’m just saying, to give people

the time that they give them just for drugs

and you’ve got people-- I’ve been around rapists,

murderers while I was in there,

and they had less time than me.

From the time MiAngel called me

and asked me about taking the case,

and I said, "I don’t have any money,"

she said, "You don’t need any money.

I didn’t ask you for a dime.

I want to do this."

And when I met her,

she looked nothing like I thought she would look like.

I’m thinking of this older person and whatever

and she walked in here looking like a little girl to me.

You know, and I go like, "My God, you are a young lady,

and you’re doing all of this?"

It’s a thing with MiAngel and with Bella

where they taught me about healing, right?

About sometimes it’s more than what’s happening

and more about reflection.

And it was at the moment

when I knew Douglas was coming home

that every day was worth it.

Oh, my God, yes.

Like every day was worth it because it was like--

and she doesn’t charge people.

-Like, this is free. -Yes, my God.

And there is no 9 to 5 that can make up for how I felt.

And even with me being in the military--

I’ve been in the military since I was 18 years old.

So I understand service before self,

but they still pay me.

So it was something about this that was different.

-Yes. -And it was like,

okay, my life isn’t a secret.

My father being incarcerated is no longer a secret.

-I don’t have to hide that. -That’s right.

That’s right, baby.

She just found out a week ago.

And I’ve been working for her for almost over a year now,

and she didn’t know.

But I’m 27 and no one around me knows.

But he’s like my best friend.

Like when I was an undergraduate,

I worked extra jobs to put money on his book

to be able to do calls.

Like when they were talking about their collect calls,

those eight dollars used to hurt me.

-Mhm. -Right, but that eight dollars

was nothing compared to the 15 minutes

that I had with him.

’Cause that would be my only time with him.

And there’s times where I would have to go

a year without seeing him, because I would get deployed

or because they’ll move him again.

So I never got to see him.

So all we had was our communication.

So I’m so grateful for MiAngel,

because her selflessness and her passion

and her following her purpose

led me to tap into mine.

♪

My name is Eric Wilson,

and I was incarcerated for 22 years.

I was in federal prison as a first-time offender

for a nonviolent drug offense.

Never been in the state prisons or anything.

Straight to the feds,

straight to a life sentence for drugs.

♪

My brother Eric was my hero.

He did everything a man was supposed to do,

so I thought he’d marry his high school sweetheart,

have children, and provide for his family.

Eric is still my hero

because he don’t blame the system,

he didn’t blame anyone but himself

for being locked up.

He says it was the decisions that caused the situation.

Eric has never pointed a finger

at anyone but himself.

As a man, I have to respect his truth.

♪

My brother missed out on a lot in 20 years.

♪

In January 2017, right before Obama left,

Obama gave me a clemency,

and he knocked my time down,

and that’s how I came home.

To go from 22 years, get a phone call,

and get kicked out of prison the same day.

So it’s like I was in a dream.

And sometimes it’s like I’m still in the dream

when my phone rings and I can answer

or I can call somebody at will.

♪

(squealing and laughing)

Oh!

-Oh, how are you doing? -Oh, my God!

♪

♪

She’s straight ahead.

She’s in that van.

The black one.

-You look beautiful! -Thank you!

Well, I can get into the back.

♪

I’m going to DC to meet with Cory Booker,

Senator Cory Booker.

How are you feeling about that?

I feel great.

I feel great because it has a purpose,

why I’m going, so like I said,

I feel great just to advocate for the guys that I left.

’Cause they was my family for 16 years,

and I was thinking, you know, at times I was thinking

that they would be my family for life, you know?

’Cause I had that life sentence,

so it was a bittersweet moment

when I walked out the door,

especially seeing my sisters and them.

And then the bitter part was just leaving the guys.

We started The Decarceration Collective

with money that we saved up as federal defenders.

Like as public defenders, our personal savings.

So the first year was, like, extremely difficult,

’cause you’re working nonstop.

You’re not paying yourselves.

And I think part of that is the nature

of starting a nonprofit

and trying to be true to the values

of indigent defense,

and that is understanding that people can’t pay.

So we always told ourselves

our mission was to be the best lawyers

that money could not buy

for people who could not afford counsel.

But it’s a very, very difficult process

to stay faithful to that.

I think part of it is just being committed to doing it

even when the money isn’t flowing,

even when you don’t know how you’re gonna pay the rent

the next month.

It has been amazing, because she showed me

how to not just be someone’s attorney.

She showed me how to be like a caretaker.

So she’s helped me learn how to have the interaction

to let them know that I care.

I care beyond this piece of paper.

I know that you’re a human,

I understand that you’re a father,

or I know that you like music,

so I’m gonna relate to your music.

This is the music I listen to, what do you listen to?

Beyond what’s on this piece of paper,

because music, that has nothing to do with your case

but has everything to do with you.

And MiAngel helped me see that.

(vocalizing)

♪

Hi!

How are you doing?

I am good.

-You make me happy. -Do I?

You make my soul rejoice.

-Nice to meet you. -Nice to meet you, too.

Really nice to meet you, man.

I feel like I already know you.

My guardian angel there.

-Nice to meet you. -Nice to meet you as well.

-Thanks for having us so much. -Are you kidding me?

I’m so grateful.

Who’s this, your bodyguard?

Yes.

(mixed remarks)

(laughing)

I gotta make sure my people are okay!

I hear ya, I hear ya!

But y’all ain’t got no security like we got.

I know, I know!

Two Douglases.

Get the two Douglases together.

Both men about liberation.

I’m proud to stand here with Edward Douglas,

and you are the first person to be liberated

thanks to the First Step Act.

You were unjustly incarcerated.

Man, it was like enough drug to--

-Lighter than a baseball. -Right.

-And you got a life sentence. -Life sentence.

Life sentence because of two priors

that didn’t have any jail time.

Right.

And I just want to say, to me,

you represent what’s possible

and what has to happen, right?

-Exactly. -Do you have any message

you want to send to folks?

I just want to say thanks for everything, you know,

and the fight continues.

The fight continues, ’cause you have too many

other brothers that you know

that are unjustly incarcerated as well.

These disproportionate sentences.

-Exactly. -All right, man.

And what did you say the first thing you ate

when you came out of prison was?

Popeye’s Chicken.

-Popeye’s Chicken? -Popeye’s Chicken.

Better than anything in prison?

Ooh, better, way better.

When I went in a restaurant,

the people behind the counter,

you know, in Kentucky Fried Chicken,

that’s where I went,

there’s a lot of young people that work there.

Teenagers, and now I’m sitting there

and they’re looking at me,

and I’m in a gray jogging suit from prison,

and they don’t know I’m from prison,

but I’m looking at the menu,

and I’m trying to figure out how the menu goes,

because it wasn’t like that 20 years ago.

So I’m looking up at the menu

and I’m trying to piece together a meal,

and they’re looking like, "Can we help you?"

And I’m like, "Oh, one minute, please.

I gotta figure this one out."

♪

When I went downtown to see the probation officer,

I get on the bus, I use my mother’s card.

I mean, my daughter gave me a couple of cards

that you put in the bus, whatever, the gold...

-Ventra card. -The Ventra card.

I put the Ventra card in the money slot, right?

So, he’s looking at me like, "What you doing?"

I say, "What you mean, what am I doing?"

He said, "It don’t go there,"

I said, "Well, I don’t know."

So then--so he said, "No, it goes there,"

so he let me go.

So then I go to see my daughter

after I leave the probation officer, right?

So my daughter stays on 35th in them townhouses,

and I’ve never been over there,

you know, so I’m like, "Okay, I got my phone."

I don’t know how to use my phone, so I’m like...

So I’m still, like, "Uh, where they live?"

And I’m walking all through.

So I go to the CTA Department,

so when I get in there, I asked the man,

I said, "Hey, do you got a pay phone in here?"

He looking at me like, "We don’t do pay phones no more."

And I’m like, "Uh, I don’t know," you know?

So he was like, "Ain’t no pay phone."

And then when I order a soda, I order an orange soda

and they give me a cup.

And I’m like...

Then they’re like, "Oh, you gotta fill it over there."

And that wasn’t so when I left.

They fill the pops and everything.

Now they got it over to the side.

It takes a little getting used to.

They got a "detox" one.

Did they have these, though?

-That’s all that I need to know. -No!

This wasn’t around...

This was around, I had them.

This wasn’t around.

I want to be the first one

to get you some Jalapeno Cheddar Cheetos.

Yes, Cheetos, man, I got a couple of bags

of regular Cheetos at the house.

♪

Cory Booker, how are you?

I’m doing all right, I’m doing all right.

-Nice to see you. -Nice to see you, too.

Nice to see you, too.

You don’t want to shake my hand, sir.

What’s up?

How you doing? Okay!

Keep that same energy!

(indistinct remarks)

What you represent to me now

is more than just a symbol of what the past was.

You represent a symbol of what we still have to do.

Every prison I go to, I tell this story all the time,

I ask wardens, you know, these are the people in charge,

I would say to them, "Are there people

that don’t belong here?"

And they go, "Yeah, there are people

that just should not be here."

You know, part of it is, I think,

and this is not something that’s just endemic

to The Decarceration Collective.

It is part of being within a system

that funds prosecution but not decarceration.

That we channel hundreds of thousands

and millions of dollars into prosecuting people,

but their re-entry is woefully underfunded.

Organizations that support re-entry,

mental health services, legal services,

woefully underfunded.

And that’s part of the system or the apparatus

that, quite frankly, my clients had experienced

before they went to prison.

And then they experience when they get out.

And so part of it is understanding

I think America has to choose.

Are we going to fund decarceration for people?

If we’re really committed to ending mass incarceration,

then that has to be a systemic shift

in how we prioritize and invest our money into people.

’Cause people are getting out of prison,

and the question is to what support?

For many of my clients,

the first system that ever really paid

any focus, attention to them

was the criminal justice system.

It wasn’t the educational system,

it wasn’t the mental health system,

it wasn’t the healthcare system,

but you get a lot of attention

when it’s the United States of America

versus Edward Douglas or you or I.

And so I think the shift has to be

when do we really recognize people as whole human beings?

♪

As a man incarcerated in federal prison,

I have made positive steps to change my life.

I have earned a GED,

completed drug education programs,

completed a parenting course,

received college credits in business management,

have completed courses in futures in the stock market

while working 10-plus years in Prison Industries UNICOR.

In jail, they teach you, you program,

you’ve gotta get a schedule,

you’ve gotta get something to maintain,

to keep yourself busy,

and I kinda practiced that in a sense in the free world,

because right off the back, I know, okay...

...what are your goals?

You want to get a job,

you got a felon, so you’ve gotta get a trade.

So what you was doing in jail?

I was MIGing and TIGing in jail,

so why not go to school for it?

So immediately, I go to school for it.

So now I’m positioning myself to be successful out here

like I was in jail and able to achieve the goal

to get the clemency and get my freedom back.

And now I have a goal to position myself to stay free.

I’m building all the foundation around me,

school, good people, you know what I’m saying,

and I’m still in tune with my legal team

that helps me and guides me.

So I’m all right.

And then I got my family,

so I got the support on the outside to succeed,

and that’s what I want out here,

because it took me 22 years.

Why would I give it back up?

♪

As a child,

my father taught me...

♪

...from the age of 14 years old

how to take care of myself,

and be a productive young man.

♪

And I let him down. I went to prison.

♪

Well, today--I’m sorry.

♪

I spend a lot of time with family,

but with my grandkids, I spend the most time with.

My kids, they was born when I got locked up.

So, my grandkids had to come,

so it’s like I got a do-over with the grandkids.

So I’m all the time with them, taking them to Chuck E. Cheese,

I’m spending time with them and stuff,

so it’s like, when I’m with them,

that helps you stay focused on the goal.

You know, hey, you got this second chance.

It’s like a second chance all the way around

with raising kids and everything.

So family is way important, especially the little ones,

because they keep me focused.

He was peeking around the corner,

I came in, ’cause I dropped everyone off at the door,

you know, you have to park on the street.

So I went and parked my car and I came in,

and I was taking my coat off right there at the freezer

and everybody was just looking at me around the corner.

I didn’t even know it was him peeking around the corner.

He looked just like my brother.

I promise I didn’t know it was him.

I was like, oh, there you go!

Like, "Oh, my God, no, wait!"

I expected to cry, but I didn’t.

I was just in my head, like, crying is over.

It’s over!

I didn’t cry and I was so shocked at myself.

Like, it’s over! I don’t have to cry anymore.

I can say this, and I mean this from my heart,

I know it’s favor,

I know how hard these women worked.

That it’s over 2,000 people in jail

that I’ve read of

that’s in there for life for drugs and everything.

Yet my son walked out the door.

And everybody else is still there

trying to get out.

These women worked hard.

When I told her, I said, "What’s your next step?"

"I gotta rest a few days."

I said, "Well, do you have other cases?"

"Oh, yeah, I’ve got other cases,

but I rest a few and then I go back to them."

Where are we at moving forward?

My staff is already going back to work

on drafting the second step.

This is just the first step,

so we’ve gotta get another one.

You know? Let’s go.

’Cause there’s still issues.

What’s in the second step?

We’re talking about what should it be.

I mean, everything from when people come home,

banning the box.

The biggest employer in our country

is the federal government and federal contractors,

but you still have to check that box.

So when guys do come home, help them to get

a better chance of getting a job.

So that’s one thing.

I still think we need to get rid

of mandatory minimums altogether.

-Oh, absolutely. -Lot of work.

♪

Words alone could never express the remorse I feel

for my choice to use and sell drugs.

I knew I had to pay a price for my bad decisions,

so now I try to take life as it comes

with no complaints.

I deal with life and everything else

for what it is, not for what I think it should be.

I have refused to grow bitter

and allow the mistakes of my past

and the weight of prison to bury me

before I’m physically dead.

I tell myself every day

it is not a disgrace to have been a criminal,

it’s a disgrace to remain one.

I want the chance to atone for my criminal acts.

I want to show my family

I am someone they can be proud of,

show society that there are people incarcerated

who made mistakes, but if given a chance,

will prove they are now fit to be a part of society

and ready to contribute.

I know it is not about what lies behind me

or what lies ahead of me.

It’s about what lies within me

that will help me manifest a bigger

and brighter future.

♪

I went to my first prisons in law school.

I’m almost embarrassed it took me 24 years to visit,

and I saw these guys with life sentences

that were-- just their whole life

was focusing on helping guys who were gonna come in

and go out far before them.

The way you sort of conducted yourself

while you were in there to say, "Hey, look.

I still have breath in my body, blood in my veins.

I can still try to make a difference

in the lives of other people."

That’s really profound.

Yeah, that was my intention,

’cause I wasn’t gonna let it dictate--

being in jail, I wasn’t gonna let it dictate me

doing the wrong things and stuff,

so I went in there and got my education,

working suicide watch and helping the guys.

I was commissioner of the sports program.

You know, ’cause it’s something,

it’s something being in there.

They can imprison your body, but they can’t cage your soul.

-That’s right. -Your mind.

And when they tell you you got a life sentence,

they’re* not just telling that judge,

"Well, I’ll be back."

-You know, I’ll be back. -Yeah.

It took a lot from me,

but I’m not bitter, I’m not bitter at all.

I can see it in your spirit right now.

It helped me grow as a man.

It helped me grow as a man,

so now I just want to help the other gentlemen

-that’s affected like I am. -Yeah.

Well, that’s my fight, too, man.

-Okay. -Yeah.

♪

The moment

my father was sentenced to life in prison

probably was the moment

nothing but weight was on my shoulders.

He raised me to think that I was going to save him.

So while granted, it was great to have him send me books,

send me things to read

to always help me with my career,

it also hurt to know that, if I didn’t do this,

I’m letting him down.

That I have to study for him.

I have to pull this all-nighter for him.

So any time I got tired, it wasn’t like,

"Okay, just take a nap."

It was, "Okay, if you don’t stay up,

it’s gonna be your fault that he rots in this cage

if you don’t do some jumping jacks,

get some coffee, get it together."

And that world of feeling guilty, it’s real,

because as I celebrate Edward Douglas

and I’m so happy, I feel guilty.

The first person that I played a role in getting them out

was not my father.

And when I told my daughter about Douglas and the family,

she was so happy.

Her first words were, "So are we gonna be able

to do this for my granddad?

When is he getting out?"

That was the first thing she said.

And now I’ve transferred this weight on her

without even noticing.

Something my mother said to me

shortly after he was sentenced,

it was like she was congratulating me

about the work that I do,

but she said something like,

"I know God sent me you

so that you could help me get my son back."

♪

You know, and to think about

what type of pressure that puts on a young person,

like on a daughter, on a family,

to think that my accomplishments

can’t be my own.

It can’t just be about me trying to develop

and be the best person I can be

or use my talent to really weight it,

you know, it’s really--

like, and of course, there’s nothing more I want

that to free my brother, you know,

but to have that type of pressure,

I think about her saying that every day.

♪

But you gotta want it.

You gotta--I mean, it’s like

we’ve gotta want Edward’s freedom

more than we want five o’clock

or more than you want food, more than you want sleep.

You know, I feel like that’s what the work requires.

That’s what I hope that people learn from this

is like you have to want it.

We will scratch concrete until you are out.

She is one of the most selfless people I’ve ever met.

It’s been times where, even when working on his case,

I’m like, "Have you ate?"

Like, "Do you need me to feed you?

Do you want to take a break?

Go home!"

I’m still convinced she sleeps in the office,

but she says she doesn’t, but I’m convinced she does.

But she is definitely one

of the most selfless people that I’ve met,

and her work ethic can’t be described.

I don’t think anybody works as hard as she does

for other people.

Not a moment of her life has anything to do with her.

It’s times where we have to make her celebrate herself.

But she will gladly celebrate everybody else,

and she wants everybody else to be happy

and be free before she even breathes.

-Are you crying? -No! No!

-Are you crying? -No!

I’m never crying.

I have never in my life.

No.

Bella, talk about yourself.

-Bella. She’s crying. -No, I’m not.

-♪ See you ♪ -No, I’m not!

-♪ See you ♪ -Mr. Douglas.

-♪ I see you ♪ -♪ See you ♪

-♪ I ♪ -♪ See you ♪

-♪ I ♪ -♪ See you ♪

-♪ I ♪ -♪ See you ♪

-♪ I ♪ -♪ See you ♪

-♪ I ♪ -♪ See you ♪

-♪ I ♪ -♪ See you ♪

-♪ I ♪ -♪ See you ♪

-♪ I ♪ -♪ See you ♪

-♪ I ♪ -♪ See you ♪

-♪ I ♪ -♪ See you ♪

-♪ I ♪ -♪ See you ♪

-♪ I ♪ -♪ See you ♪

-♪ I ♪ -♪ See you ♪

♪ Look, I see you taking care of your mama ♪

♪ And your business, I admire your ambition ♪

♪ Double tap, keep my distance ♪

♪ Don’t wanna hog your attention ♪

♪ Don’t fall in love, you’ll start tripping ♪

♪ I just want to bear witness ♪

♪ To the purpose you fulfill ♪

♪ And no time for Netflix and chilling ♪

♪ While all these debtors keep billing my grandma ♪

♪ God said, "Forgive them" ♪

♪ Ratio one to a million ♪

♪ Talking heroes to villains ♪

♪ Shout-out all the Black women

who out here raising their village ♪

♪ Pray no more pillars are pillaged ♪

♪ Do pride in the absence of privilege ♪

♪ I see you ♪

-♪ I see you ♪ -♪ See you ♪

-♪ I see you ♪ -♪ See you ♪

-♪ I see you ♪ -♪ See you ♪

-♪ I see you ♪ -♪ See you ♪

-♪ I see you ♪ -♪ See you ♪

-♪ I see you ♪ -♪ See you ♪

-♪ I see you ♪ -♪ See you ♪

-♪ I see you ♪ -♪ See you ♪

-♪ I see you ♪ -♪ See you ♪

-♪ I see you ♪ -♪ See you ♪

-♪ I see you ♪ -♪ See you ♪

-♪ I see you ♪ -♪ See you ♪

-♪ I see you ♪ -♪ See you ♪

-♪ I see you ♪ -♪ See you ♪

-♪ I see you ♪ -♪ See you ♪

-♪ I see you ♪ -♪ See you ♪

-♪ I see you ♪ -♪ See you ♪

-♪ I see you ♪ -♪ See you ♪

-♪ I see you ♪ -♪ See you ♪

-♪ I see you ♪ -♪ See you ♪

-♪ I see you ♪ -♪ See you ♪

-♪ I see you ♪ -♪ See you ♪

-♪ I see you ♪ -♪ See you ♪

-♪ I see you ♪ -♪ See you ♪

-♪ I see you ♪ -♪ See you ♪

-♪ I see you ♪ -♪ See you ♪

-♪ I see you ♪ -♪ See you ♪

-♪ I see you ♪ -♪ See you ♪

-♪ I see you ♪ -♪ See you ♪

-♪ I see you ♪ -♪ See you ♪

-♪ I see you ♪ -♪ See you ♪

-♪ I see you ♪ -♪ See you ♪

If my dad was granted clemency,

oh, my goodness, um...

♪

Just knowing that he could be home

and that he would be home

and that I can actually...

♪

...see him outside of a prison

and see him free,

that would mean everything to us.

My children.

I know for my daughter, too.

♪

’Cause she loves the guitar, and I know that...

♪

...he could teach her a couple of things.

♪

Just having him home would mean everything.

Absolutely everything.

♪

Not only was I in prison, but I was locked up inside me

because I could not act as a free person.

Now I am free, because my mind is free,

my spirit is free.

And so I think that

I am free now

in more than one way.

♪

Good morning, everybody.

Another cold day.

Feels great to be free, though.

About to get my workday started.

(engines buzzing)

♪

The beauty of this situation

is working every day,

at the end of the day,

you have something to look forward to,

coming home to your family,

nice home-cooked meal.

♪

And the love of just being free.

♪

I’m just checking on you!

(indistinct talking)

Oh, y’all picked him up?

(gasping)

Ahhh!

Let me talk to him!

♪

Hey, Jamelle!

So, you’re in the car, huh?

I’m missing your pickup.

But I told your family I’m gonna come over tomorrow.

Yeah, okay, I’m sending you hugs.

I’ll see you tomorrow.

Okay, all right.

♪

Thank you so much for being a conductor.

Thank you, okay, love you.

Okay.

That was my other guy, he got out.

♪

♪