TellMyStory

Sentenced to life with parole eligibility in 7 years, I’ve now served over 40 years in Georgia prisons. Despite an exemplary record and completing every requirement, I’ve been denied parole 15-16 times. This is my story of systemic barriers, legal advocacy, and refusing to stay silent.

A military veteran describes his 2009 conviction based on false accusations by a teenager, inadequate public defense, and the loss of his children. Sixteen years later, he reflects on surviving violence in Georgia prisons while maintaining hope that the truth will emerge.

I expected order and stability when I entered Pulaski State Prison in Georgia. Instead, I found a facility with no supervision, rampant violence, and systemic neglect. For two years, I witnessed inmates calling their families to get help because officers wouldn’t respond to emergencies.

After 27 years in Georgia prisons, a man sentenced at 15 faced his parole interview in freezing conditions while grieving his sister’s death. Despite years of mentorship work and staying disciplinary-free, the board denied him based solely on ‘nature of crime’ — a decision made when he was a child.

Next month marks 26 years incarcerated for a 67-year-old man who maintains his innocence and has received only one disciplinary report. Despite certifications, work history, and family support, he faces his fifth parole hearing with little hope—never having met the board members who decide his fate.

I was 39 when my wife was murdered. Police built their case on coerced witness statements and an impossible timeline—claiming I was in two places at once. Twenty-six years later, despite witnesses recanting, new evidence, and a TV investigation confirming the timeline doesn’t work, I’m still fighting for freedom.

He went into the system a healthy young man. After seven months of ignored medical pleas, he is now a quadriplegic. Staff moved him away from the nurses’ station so they wouldn’t hear him calling for help. When they finally sent him to a hospital, he had double pneumonia, kidney cancer, and had lost all muscle function.

After 14 years in the Georgia Department of Corrections with 16 more to go, this father shares what keeps him going: the hope of reuniting with his now-teenage children. His story reveals staff retaliation, dangerous living conditions, and the daily struggle to stay out of trouble in an increasingly difficult system.

In 2008, a judge handed down 25 years without parole. What followed was entry into Georgia’s prison system through dehumanization at Jackson, placement among violent offenders despite no prior record, and the crushing realization that no amount of rehabilitation would reduce the sentence.

After 20 months of daily contact with her son in county jail, a mother describes the sudden silence that followed his transfer to Jackson prison three weeks ago. She shares her experience of living with fear, navigating impossible parole requirements, and preparing a room for a son she can no longer reach.