Wrongfully imprisoned, Adams released book
In 1998, when he was 17 years old, Jarrett Adams, an African American, was falsely accused of rape, found guilty by an all-white jury, and sentenced by a Wisconsin court to 28 years in prison.
During his time behind bars — nearly 10 years including time before his trial and before his release — Adams worked to familiarize himself with the judicial system, educate himself on the law, and send hundreds of letters pleading his case to authorities, attorneys and the Wisconsin Innocence Project, which helped him finally be exonerated late in 2006.
Adams went on to earn a college degree, attend and graduate from law school and pass the bar. He worked as an attorney for the New York Innocence project. In 2017, he opened his own office and today, has offices in three cities and practices in both federal and state courts throughout the country. He also runs Life After Justice, a nonprofit devoted to assisting exonerees.
Adams has told his story in “Redeeming Justice: From Defendant to Defender, My Fight for Equity on Both Sides of a Broken System,” to be published Sept. 14 as both a book and an audio book that he reads. He spoke recently with The Dispatch from his office in Chicago.
Q: Persistence is a theme in your book. How did you keep going when you faced so many obstacles?
Adams: I did become bitter. I’ve got to be as real as I was in the book about this. I was angry and I was upset and that’s OK. But the issue is what do you do with that? For me, my response was to keep fighting and to go forward.
Q: Your mother and your aunts gave you so much support. Are they still around?
Adams: One of my aunts is alive and my mom is, but the sad thing was when I got out they were all older. Dementia seems to run in my family and my mom and aunts are in and out of it. I just wanted them to be proud of me.
Q: When you were in prison, you gave legal advice and assistance to a number of inmates, earning the nickname “Li’l Johnnie Cochran — Looking (expletive) With the Glasses.” Does anyone call you that today?
Adams: No, but I do get, “man, you a lawyer?” I’m young, 40 years old, black and a lawyer and some people marvel at that.
Q: Do you have any contact with any of the inmates you helped?
Adams: I’ve assisted with some of them now trying to get released. That’s the reason I went back to Wisconsin to get my law degree … Some of the people I helped with non-violent offenses were still in there after 30 years. Why are we warehousing these people when they could be out and contributing to society?
Q: Your book tells how during your years in prison you missed the online revolution. How hard was it to catch up with cellphones, the internet and texting?
Adams: That was one of the most difficult things I had to experience … (When I first got out) I was going to the
DMV and my mom gave me this phone and I remember getting this message from her on the phone and I thought how on Earth did she do this? I had never gotten a text message. It was just so intimidating but I knew I had to use these (technological) vehicles to get to where I wanted to go.
Q: One of the saddest truths in your story is that “disposable young Black men” seem to be a fact of life in America. Is that still true today?
Adams: It is. If we only treated every Black kid like they had the potential and talent to be the next Lebron (James), Kobe (Bryant) or Michael Jordan, we wouldn’t see our kids end up dead, or depicted as all they’re going to do is beatbox and rob you. And when I use that analogy, I don’t mean just treat them like star athletes … but recruit the kids of all talents.
Q: You’re married. Any children? Adams: My wife and I are both lawyers and the five-year plan was to start a family so we’re working on that now. My book took two years to write and all the time, I kept thinking, how would my kids walk away from it after the last chapter?
Q: Another theme through your book is that of you finding faith with help from your mother and aunts. Does that help in working through the anger?
Adams: It does. Who benefits from hanging on to anger? Anger is distracting. The way I deal with the loss of years is that each and every day I get up and try to prevent what happened to me from happening to anyone else.
Q: What advice would you give to yourself at 16, or to other young Black men today?
Adams: I would tell them that guns, interactions with police, gang violence, drugs — those are all bad, but none of those things are the number one killer of black youth and their dreams. The number one killer is a lack of patience. Have as much patience as possible when you’re a young Black adult because our counterparts get the benefits when we do not.
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