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
N.G. writing from Florida
“I never left my cell perimeter, all evidence writes this.”
M.J. writing from Ohio
“I have proof that shows they cheated me out of a fair trial...all of the evidence to show that I’m innocent and been wrongfully convicted.”
W.J. writing from Texas
“Blood was found at the scene, but it excluded me, no fingerprint matched, and I was compensated by crime victims for my own roadside shooting that occurred on the same night, hours later, in a different location.“
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.”
A.S. writing from Alabama
“I only want out if my innocence can be proven. I am absolutely innocent.”
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.”
I.D. 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.”
D.J. writing from Florida
“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.”
C.W. writing from Iowa
“My innocence has been maintained throughout numerous proceedings following trial.”
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.”
M.M. writing from Illinois
"I've been pro se in the courts so I am continuously railroaded. I have all the proof you need to know that I am dead serious. There are so many High Stakes Players involved in my case... That why these people treat me like a colored person in the 1950's South."
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.S. writing from Ohio
“The video camera evidence and knife in the photograph[ic] evidence all disappeared and/or [were] purposely not collected. Something happened to all of the evidence in my favor. It was either altered, destroyed[,] not collected and/or purposely lost.”
J.G. writing from Texas
“I have many issues on my case. All of them point to my innocence.”
L.L. writing from New York
Legal assistance needed
B.A. writing from Missouri
Legal assistance needed
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.