In this first-of-its-kind documentary, clemency recipient and future exoneree Greg Mingo interviews extraordinary New Yorkers who received clemency after transforming their lives despite the harrowing struggles of incarceration.

Featuring:

JJ Velazquez - American legal reform activist, actor, and public speaker who was wrongfully convicted of a 1998 murder of a retired police officer. On August 17, 2021, Velazquez was granted clemency by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.[20]. On October 18, 2022, President Joe Biden sat down with Velazquez to discuss criminal legal reform in part of NowThis's presidential forum. President Biden apologized to Velazquez on "behalf of all society" for his wrongful conviction. On September 30, 2024, Velazquez was exonerated by Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg. The Office joined in Velazquez's request to vacate the conviction and moved to dismiss the indictment in the interest of justice based on newly discovered DNA evidence. The motion was granted by Judge Abraham Clott. In response, Velazquez exclaimed, "This isn't a celebration," he said outside, adding, "This is an indictment of the system."

Judy Clark - Judith Alice Clark is an American far-left radical activist, formerly a member of the Weather Underground and the May 19th Communist Organization (M19). In 1967, she took up studies at the University of Chicago, where she joined Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and later co-founded the Weather Underground, participating in the Days of Rage. Clark was arrested driving a getaway car after the October 1981 Brink's robbery in Nanuet, New York, in which a security guard and two Nyack, New York police officers were shot and killed. At trial, she was sentenced three consecutive 25 to life terms for murder in the second degree, which she served at the Bedford Hills Correctional Facility in New York. Whilst incarcerated, she carried out HIV/AIDS activism, published in Social Justice, participated in a scheme to train service dogs for military veterans, assisted a chaplain and ran prenatal and infant support workshops for mothers. In 2016, Governor of New York Andrew Cuomo commuted her sentence to 35 years to life, making her eligible for parole. She was denied parole in 2017 and granted it in 2019.

Alfonzo Riley - was granted clemency in 2018 after serving more than 30 years of a 50-years-to-life in prison sentence. Shortly after his release, he began working as a paralegal case handler in the Wrongful Conviction Unit at The Legal Aid Society. In 2024, he was promoted to Director of Paralegal Services. He is a certified "Credible Messenger," which means he uses the experiences of his own humble beginnings to mentor youth. Alfonzo is a volunteer chess instructor for a nonprofit organization in Brooklyn, NY, where he teaches life skills to young people, using chess as a metaphor for life. Beyond that, Alfonzo is pursuing his lifelong dream of becoming an attorney.

Stanley Bellamy

Greg Mingo

Steve Zeidman

Directed by Mark Teiwes

Produced by Greg Mingo & Annabel Davis-Goff

Music by Brian Brown, EVOE, and Tony Sopiano