Oral history interview with Darrell L. Padgett, 2021
Abstract
Darrell Padgett reflects on his experience of incarceration, describes his legal education during the period of his incarceration, and tells the story of securing his early release following the passage of the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, which reduced the disparity in sentence durations between violations involving crack and powder cocaine. Padgett remembers his initial impressions of Barack Obama , shares his memory of inmates' celebration of Obama's election in 2008, and recounts his monitoring of the legislative progression of the Fair Sentencing Act and its implementation. Padgett also describes his transition from prison back into American society, including his shock by the changes that had occurred over the more than twenty years of his incarceration, his completion of bachelor's and master's degrees in criminal justice administration, and the 2015 letter he wrote to President Obama in which he told the president his story and urged him to confidently use his clemency powers to grant relief to deserving applicants. Also discussed are the conditions in federal Bureau of Prisons facilities, the effects of an African American presidential candidate and president on incarcerated African American men, and the letter and phone call Padgett received from President Obama and the Obama White House
Presidents--Correspondence.--United States; Mass incarceration--United States; Mandatory sentences--United States; Ex-convicts--Rehabilitation--United States; Ex-convicts--Services for--United States; Padgett, Darrell; Obama, Barack; United States; Fair Sentencing Act of 2010
Format
oral histories
Genre
Interviews
Date
2021
Physical Description
31 pages
Note (Biographical)
Darrell Padgett is an American author and public speaker. In 1991, he was arrested for the distribution of one gram of crack cocaine, and sentenced to 37.5 years in prison. In part due to the Fair Sentencing Act of 2010, Padgett's sentence was reduced , and he was released in 2012. After his release, Padgett earned a B.A. in Criminal Justice and an M.A. in Criminal Justice Studies with high honors, both from Columbia Southern University. In September 2015, he wrote President Obama a letter in which he detailed his experience of incarceration. Obama responded to the letter, and spoke with Padgett over the phone about how he had been inspired by his story
Note
Interviewed by Terrell D. Frazier on July 13, 2021. This interview is part of the Columbia University: Obama Presidency Oral History
Note (Provenance)
Darrell L. Padgett, Gift, transferred from Columbia Center for Oral History Research 2023