Prison Letters Project
Letters Database
With the permission and participation of incarcerated people who write to us, we are logging their letters into a public database.
Letter Category
- Abuse of Judicial Discretion
- Attorney & Judicial Error
- Batson Violation
- Coerced Confession
- Coercion
- Coercion of Witnesses
- DNA Evidence
- Evidence Tampering
- Excessive Charging & Sentence
- False Statements by Law Enforcement
- False Testimony
- Forensic Issue
- Improper Arrest Procedure
- Improper Statements by Defense Counsel
- Ineffective Assistance of Counsel
- Innocence
- Insufficient Evidence at Trial
- Judicial Error
- Jury Instruction Error
- Loss of Evidence
- Mishandling of Evidence
- Newly Discovered Evidence
- No Knock Warrant
- Parole
- Perjured Testimony
- Prosecutorial Misconduct
- Racial Discrimination
- Speedy Trial Issue
- Unfair Sentencing
- Withheld Evidence
- Wrongful Conviction
- Wrongful conviction & innocence
C.E. writing from Indiana
“Here’s a defendant who never had a fair trial and who never had all the evidence put before a jury.”
C.F. writing from Alabama
“Please try and help me get back in court…so hopefully I may go home to my family!”
N.G. writing from Florida
“I never left my cell perimeter, all evidence writes this.”
S.B. writing from Alabama
“I am innocent and I need help. I want to go home. I do not want to spend the rest of my life in prison for a crime I did not commit.”
B.B. writing from New York
“Forensic testing...will be the proof I am not the shooter and somehow I need help getting this done to demonstrate my innocence.”
A.G. writing from Alabama
“I feel like I have a lot to offer the world and can be a great mom and a productive member of society... Where is the justice? I just want my story to be heard.”
M.W. writing from Texas
“The DA said that I slammed the officer's head against the wall multiple times, but the officer admitted in my own transcript that his body or skin never touched the wall....Also, I had 9 different officers testify against me who were never one the scene in the first place.”
J.I. writing from New York
“I have been incarcerated for 17 years, wrongfully convicted, awaiting justice and to come home to my kid, wife and family.”
T.H. writing from New York
“The system is able to have me imprisoned for an unfounded accusation back in 1995, by Brooklyn Detectives, who mearly used me as scapegoat.”
I.D. writing from New York
“Not once over the past 28 years in the New York prison system has anyone ever asked me, ‘What happened to you?’”
G.K. writing from Texas
“I was railroaded. The truth was never told in that courtroom.”
A.A. writing from Texas
How does one bring attention to an illegal act of the miscarriage of justice and obstruction of justice in violation of due process rights in the name of fairness and justice?
E.M. writing from Iowa
“My appeals are done. Illegally. My trial was done. Illegally. I’ve been in prison on Life without Parole for over 15 years now, when a fair conviction would’ve given me a sentence of 10 years... I have nothing left to lose.”
L.P. writing from Texas
“I'm a proud father of (2) sons who I have not been able to hug or see or spend any time with because of this false incarceration.”
C.F. writing from Alabama
“We do have people by the masses that are willing to sign petitions and protest. I’m fighting for my life here...I don’t want to lose another family member. I’ve been here 15 years. No Mom, Dad, grandparents. Please help me out.”
A.G. writing from Louisiana
“My current situation is the highest form of oppression.”
J.S. writing from New York
“My evidence and case is the poster child of [prosecutorial] misconduct yet they are still trying to absolve themselves.”
T.Y. writing from California
“I am an innocent man who has been on death row since my wrongful conviction in 2006.”
K.R. writing from New York
“My trial attorney never investigated my claim of actual innocence… A core function of defense counsel is to investigate and assess potentially exculpatory evidence.”
J.G. writing from Texas
“I have many issues on my case. All of them point to my innocence.”
Disclaimer
Information appearing in the database reflects our understanding of letter-writers' situations and legal claims based on our correspondence with them, and may not be complete and comprehensive.
If you are interested in learning more about a particular person's case or connecting with them, please write us at prisonlettersproject@yale.edu
Connect with and support the letter-writers!
The Prison Letters Project hopes for and welcomes interest from people who want to learn more about these stories.
If you would like to be connected to a particular letter-writer for the purpose of providing representation, writing about their story, offering other support, or simply learning more about their case, please reach out to us using this form.
Alternatively, you can write to us at:
Prison Letters Project, c/o Emily Bazelon, Yale Law School, 127 Wall Street, New Haven, CT 06511.