A Knock at Midnight ★★★★★

A Knock at Midnight: A Story of Hope, Justice, and Freedom (Click Here To Buy)

★★★★★

A Knock at Midnight by Brittany Barnett is a non-fiction book about a lawyer and her fight for #clemencynow to get her clients released from prison for life sentences given due to mandatory minimums.

I read this for @diversepines January #spineofthemonth as an audiobook on loan from the library.

Barnett starts off by telling her own story as a child with a mother who was sentenced to prison for crack possession, her relationship with a violent man, and her decision to go to law school after going to school for accounting. It was while she was still in law school that Barnett became interested in Sharanda Jones’ case. Jones was a first time offender for a low-level drug crime sentenced to life in prison due to unfair mandatory minimum sentencing laws. After graduation, with a full time corporate lawyer job, Barnett dedicated her free time to getting Jones and others released. After failing in the courts, Barnett filed clemency petitions to President Barack Obama, who eventually granted Jones and many of Barnett’s other clients clemency.

Barnett found her life work in social justice working to get people’s sentences reduced or to get them released for charges that are unjust and unfair. She was able to quit her job and begin working full-time for justice. Barnett has since founded Buried Alive Project which works to free people who are serving life without parole for sentences given under outdated federal drug laws.

If you liked A Knock at Midnight, I also recommend Just Mercy by Brian Stevenson, The Sun Does Shine by Anthony Ray Hinton, Deadman Walking by Helen Prejean, and Tattoos on the Heart by Gregory Boyle.

Happy Reading,

Ms.Bjork