"If I do not write, who will? What I am living with here does
not allow me to wait until others fully wake up to the serious harm
prisons cause."
Falsely
convicted of murder and sentenced to life in prison, Lacino Hamilton
sent thousands of letters during his incarceration. After twenty-six
years, including eleven years in solitary confinement, and a
years-long campaign of public and political pressure, Hamilton was
exonerated and released on September 30, 2020. The letters he wrote
during his incarceration, advocating for his innocence--literally
writing for his life--made him a leading voice on issues of
abolition, imprisonment, and justice. Despite fierce resistance and
retaliation from prison officials, he maintained correspondence with
family and friends, as well as university professors and activists.
Tireless,
empathetic, and unflinching, Hamilton's voice throughout these
letters shines with immediacy. We must engage all people in
recognizing the terrible costs of maintaining the US system of
justice, he writes. In his passionate critiques of the
prison-industrial complex, his emotional appeals to friends and
family, and his fierce and unflagging defense of his own innocence,
Hamilton exposes the oppressive, humiliating, and destructive reality
of our justice system. From divestment in cities and policing
policies to the everyday violence of imprisonment and its attempts to
obliterate personhood in favor of obedience, these letters offer an
incisive critique of our criminal justice system. We also feel
Hamilton's deep generosity of spirit as he counsels others affected
by this terrible system and lauds the work of those working on the
outside for reform. With his voice, we sense something unexpected and
profound: hope for a reimagining of our systems--a humanity-affirming
model of justice.
Dive
deeper with the In
Spite of the Consequences
discussion guide—perfect for book clubs or individual study.
