A new start, at age 69, after 42 years in prison
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More than 42 years ago, Nelson Davis (now age 69) was sentenced to spend the rest of his life in Louisiana's notorious Angola Prison, without any possibility of parole.
For several decades, Mr. Davis was the definition of a "model prisoner." He did not have even the slightest infraction in more than 16 years, and under the Louisiana Risk Need Assessment II (LRNA II), Mr. Davis’s score was -4; anything below a score of +6 places a person in the lowest risk (“Low Risk”) category. He worked as a cook, and eventually as a Chief Cook, in the prison. When hurricanes hit the Louisiana Gulf Shore, he and other "trusty" prisoners temporarily left Angola to help feed those evacuated to shelters around New Orleans. He attended whatever classes were available for self-improvement, and spent much of his time counseling and mentoring other prisoners. All, it's worth noting, without any hope of ever reentering the free world.
Other incarcerated people took an interest in Mr. Davis's case. One of them was an "inmate legal substitute," a prisoner without any formal legal training who helps others work on their cases, named Darren Hooks. After 38 years, Mr. Hooks was the first to realize that Mr. Davis had been illegally sentenced.
I met Mr. Davis in January 2020 during a visit to Angola prison. I was appointed by the court to represent him, so I had the privilege of representing Mr. Davis throughout the last stage of his legal odyssey. On Sept. 17, 2020, we finally got back into court, and Judge Laurie A. White gave Mr. Davis his new sentence: life imprisonment, with all but the first 40 years "suspended." In other words, he was eligible for immediate release! One of his good friends from Angola (who was released 15 years earlier) immediately jumped in the car to pick up Mr. Davis; he was there several hours later when Mr. Davis finally exited Angola's gates. (There's a news story about the re-sentencing, which happened during one of my classes, here: https://www.wvtf.org/post/law-professor-offers-novel-lessons-live#stream/0 ).
Mr. Davis has been free for a couple weeks now. New Orleans has changed a LOT since he last saw it! He's staying with the friend who picked him up, who has a spare queen-sized bed, which seems like the greatest luxury imaginable after 42 years on a bunk-bed cot. He's enjoying lots of foods he hasn't tasted in a long time. But he left Angola literally with nothing: all of his possessions he gifted to other incarcerated friends, who he figured would appreciate it more. So now he's in need of some basic things like a winter coat and maybe a nice pair of shoes ("something to make me look neat").
And he doesn't like being a burden on anyone. His chief goal is move into his own apartment. So that's the point of this GoFundMe: to raise enough money for Mr. Davis to get first/last/deposit for a decent place in New Orleans. If we're able to raise anything beyond that, it'll go straight to Mr. Davis to save for other things he'll need to begin rebuilding his life.
For several decades, Mr. Davis was the definition of a "model prisoner." He did not have even the slightest infraction in more than 16 years, and under the Louisiana Risk Need Assessment II (LRNA II), Mr. Davis’s score was -4; anything below a score of +6 places a person in the lowest risk (“Low Risk”) category. He worked as a cook, and eventually as a Chief Cook, in the prison. When hurricanes hit the Louisiana Gulf Shore, he and other "trusty" prisoners temporarily left Angola to help feed those evacuated to shelters around New Orleans. He attended whatever classes were available for self-improvement, and spent much of his time counseling and mentoring other prisoners. All, it's worth noting, without any hope of ever reentering the free world.
Other incarcerated people took an interest in Mr. Davis's case. One of them was an "inmate legal substitute," a prisoner without any formal legal training who helps others work on their cases, named Darren Hooks. After 38 years, Mr. Hooks was the first to realize that Mr. Davis had been illegally sentenced.
I met Mr. Davis in January 2020 during a visit to Angola prison. I was appointed by the court to represent him, so I had the privilege of representing Mr. Davis throughout the last stage of his legal odyssey. On Sept. 17, 2020, we finally got back into court, and Judge Laurie A. White gave Mr. Davis his new sentence: life imprisonment, with all but the first 40 years "suspended." In other words, he was eligible for immediate release! One of his good friends from Angola (who was released 15 years earlier) immediately jumped in the car to pick up Mr. Davis; he was there several hours later when Mr. Davis finally exited Angola's gates. (There's a news story about the re-sentencing, which happened during one of my classes, here: https://www.wvtf.org/post/law-professor-offers-novel-lessons-live#stream/0 ).
Mr. Davis has been free for a couple weeks now. New Orleans has changed a LOT since he last saw it! He's staying with the friend who picked him up, who has a spare queen-sized bed, which seems like the greatest luxury imaginable after 42 years on a bunk-bed cot. He's enjoying lots of foods he hasn't tasted in a long time. But he left Angola literally with nothing: all of his possessions he gifted to other incarcerated friends, who he figured would appreciate it more. So now he's in need of some basic things like a winter coat and maybe a nice pair of shoes ("something to make me look neat").
And he doesn't like being a burden on anyone. His chief goal is move into his own apartment. So that's the point of this GoFundMe: to raise enough money for Mr. Davis to get first/last/deposit for a decent place in New Orleans. If we're able to raise anything beyond that, it'll go straight to Mr. Davis to save for other things he'll need to begin rebuilding his life.
Organizer
Thomas Frampton
Organizer
Charlottesville, VA