Ex-Prisoner Learns Law, Wins Release, Now Works in Court of Appeals

An inmate who spent nine years in prison for a crime he never committed is now clerking at the federal court that overturned his conviction – after a fellow inmate told him to “stop playing basketball” and start learning law.

When he was 17 years old, Jarrett Adams was convicted of sexual assault and sentenced to 28 years in prison. He always maintained his innocence but his public defender never offered a defense at his trial in Wisconsin.

After a fellow prisoner suggested he learn the system, Adams plowed through the books in the prison library, teaching himself case law. He wrote to the Wisconsin Innocence Project which took up his case and uncovered new evidence.

http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/former-prisoner-who-learned-law-and-won-release-now-works-in-court-of-appeals/