Page 8 - Florida Sentinel 4-3-18

Military
Two Enlistees Complete Basic Military Training
Local
Jarrett Adams:
From Prison To The Courtroom
AIRMAN CHARLIE R. MAYHUE
Two young men with ties to Tampa recently graduated from basic military training. They participated in their re- spective graduation cere- monies at the Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, in San Antonio, Texas.
Airman Charlie R. Mayhue and Airman Ian D. Thomas completed an intensive, eight-week pro- gram that included training in military discipline and studies, Air Force core val- ues, physical fitness, and basic warfare principles and skills.
AIRMAN IAN D. THOMAS
Both Airmen also earned four credits toward an Asso- ciate in Applied Science De- gree through the Community College of the Air Force.
Airman Mayhue is the son of Crystal Watson, of Tampa. He graduated from Armwood High School in 2017.
Airman Thomas is the son of Monika H. and Douglas K. Thomas, and brother, of Erika H. Thomas, all of Tampa. He graduated from Gaither High School in 2017.
BY KENYA WOODARD Sentinel Features Writer
Today, Jarrett Adams is an accomplished attorney who is licensed to practice law in Illinois and New York, where he runs a successful criminal and civil rights practice.
But 20 years ago, Adams was a 17-year-old about to embark upon a 28-year sen- tence in a maximum security prison for sexual assault.
The journey from inmate to lawyer isn’t one of chance or luck. Rather, it was a strong sense of belief in one- self and the determination to right a wrong, and divine in- tervention, he said.
“This is no game, no joke,” Adams told hundreds gathered last Tuesday at the Tampa Marriott Waterside for the fourth day of the 12th annual Black, Brown & Col- lege Bound Conference. “I believe in the all-powerful mighty God.”
Adams shared his re- markable story at the Sum- mit.
Adams’s nine-year stint in prison began innocently enough. He and two other friends drove from Chicago to Whitewater, Wis., to at- tend a party at the University of Wisconsin. While stopped at a dorm to use the phone, a freshman woman invited Adams and his friends into her room where he said the four engaged in consensual sex.
However, the woman claimed she was raped, prompting the arrest of Adams and his friends on charges of sexual assault.
The first trial ended in mistrial. But the second trial, Adams and his co-defen- dant were convicted by an all-white jury. At his sentenc- ing, Adams said the judge originally had given him 20 years but added eight more because he “didn’t show any remorse.”
In prison, Adams shared a cell with an older inmate. He had begun to grow accus- tomed to his surroundings, when the cellmate overheard him talking to his family about his case. When he hung up, the cellmate asked to review his case.
After reading the file, the cellmate found a loophole: at his trial, his attorney failed to
ATTY. JARRETT M. ADAMS Shared his story with young men at the Black, Brown and College-Bound Summit.
call a key witness to the stand.
The revelation – and the possibility of it leading to his freedom – spurned Adams into action.
“I sat in that law library so much, I began to articulate what was going on in my case,” he said.
While studying the ap- peals process, Adams also began researching cases for other inmates.
He soon learned about the Wisconsin Innocence Project, a nonprofit legal or- ganization that helps exoner- ate wrongly convicted people.
Through the organiza- tion, Adams won a ruling from the 7th U. S. Circuit Court of Appeals based on his attorney’s misconduct. The prosecution dismissed the charges and Adams was set free.
But adjusting to life after prison proved to be difficult. Life had passed him by while he was serving his sentence, as evidenced by technologi- cal advances like email and cell phones and the family photo album, where his pic- tures stopped at high school graduation.
“Everyone else’s pictures had continued,” he said. “There were some things we took for granted that I had to streamline. I was completely behind the curve.”
Adams began rebuilding his life. He enrolled in com- munity college and then went on to obtain a bachelor’s de- gree.
An attorney heard about Adams’s story and reached out to him. After meeting, he then introduced Adams to the director of the federal de-
fender’s office who in turn of- fered him a job.
The job gave Adams ac- cess to health insurance, which allowed him to pursue much-needed counseling.
“That gave me the oppor- tunity to use my anger and frustration to fuel what I’m doing today,” he said. “The word ‘therapy’ is a dirty word and I’m not sure why. We need it.”
Adams soon began eye- ing a legal career. He en- rolled in Loyola University Chicago School of Law, and in May of 2015 earned his J. D. He next started a public interest law fellowship with Ann Claire Williams, a judge for the Seventh Circuit U. S. Court of Appeals – the very same court that reversed his conviction.
Adams had come full cir- cle.
“I had no idea that I would be in the same court- room with the judges that overturned my conviction,” he said.
Adams said his knowl- edge of chess helped him map out a plan for himself.
“I encourage you to learn the game of chess...and apply it to your life,” he said. “Be- cause in the game of chess, you have to plan five or six steps ahead.”
Adams cautioned atten- dees to avoid pitfalls that could lead to incarceration, as the system is designed to capture them.
“This mass incarceration didn’t start by accident,” he said. “There were things sys- tematically done to target you. It was designed to affect you all. And you know what? It most certainly was effec- tive. They made young Black men and young Brown men scary figures.”
The number of Black men imprisoned equals the total number of incarcerated peo- ple in other countries, Adams said.
“These are fathers, un- cles, and brothers,” he said. “What’s doing it has nothing to do with criminal justice. And they use us to line their pockets.”
Education is the best way to combat mass incarcera- tion, gentrification, and seg- regation, Adams said.
“My education set me up for everything I am today and will continue to do so,” he said.
PAGE 8 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, APRIL 3, 2018