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DeutschJoe Ligon
Joseph Ligon | |
|---|---|
| Born | May 3, 1938 (age 85) Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States |
| Known for | Longest serving US prisoner convicted as a minor (served prison sentence from aged 15-82) |
| Criminal status | Released |
| Conviction(s) | First degree murder (2 counts) |
| Criminal penalty | Life imprisonment without parole; later reduced |
| Details | |
| Country | United States |
| State(s) | Pennsylvania |
| Imprisoned at | Montgomery County Jail |
Joseph Ligon (born May 3, 1938) is an American convicted murderer and former prisoner. He was America's longest-serving prisoner who was convicted to a life sentence as a minor. At 15, he was found guilty of murder by association and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. After the US Supreme Court had ruled in 2016 that all juvenile life sentences without parole were retroactively unconstitutional, he was released in 2021, having spent 68 years in jail.
Early life[edit]
Ligon was born on May 3, 1938 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA.[1] He grew up on a farm in Alabama and had a difficult early life. He dropped out of school in third or fourth grade without being able to read or write.[2] Aged 13 he moved back to Philadelphia with his family.[3]
Conviction for murder[edit]
On February 20, 1953, while living in Philadelphia, Ligon was part of an alcohol-fueled violent spree by five teenagers that resulted in the murders of Charles Pitts and Jackson Hamm. He met up with two teenagers he knew casually and they came across two other teenagers, previously unknown to him, who were drinking wine. They began robbing people to try to buy more alcohol.[3]
After his arrest he claimed he was not permitted legal representation or family visitation and signed confessions put in front of him by the police; he was 15 years old. Ligon and the other defendants had a one-day trial and they were convicted of first degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without parole.[3][4]
At the time of his trial, Ligon admitted to stabbing one person who survived the attack. He has affirmed his guilt for the stabbing and expressed remorse subsequently. He has always denied being responsible for either murder.[3][5]
Ligon and his accomplices were offered clemency in the early 1970s. Ligon was the only one to refuse the offer, rejecting it since he would have to be on parole.[5]
Parole[edit]
Bradley Bridge, his attorney for 15 years, said that Ligon had been found guilty by association and that if he were tried today, he would more likely be convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to 5 or 10 years. Bridge said giving an adult sentence to a child is inherently wrong.[6]
In 2012, life sentences for juveniles without the possibility of parole were ruled to be unconstitutional in the US Supreme Court. In 2016, the Supreme Court said that the 2012 ruling was retroactive.[4] In 2017, Ligon was re-sentenced to 35 years in jail and became eligible for parole due to the time already served. Ligon felt his sentence had always been unconstitutional, so he returned to court to argue against the parole. The federal court agreed and in February 2021 he was released without parole.[7]
Release[edit]
 | This section may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. The specific problem is: Release section needs edits for clarity and tone. (April 2024) |
Ligon was released on February 11, 2021, from State Correctional Institution - Phoenix[8] When Bridge went to the jail to collect him, he remarked Ligon was completely calm—he didn't have an "oh my God" reaction and there was no drama. A month later, Ligon remarked about his release: "It was like being born all over again. Because everything was new to me – just about everything".[3] After being released, Ligon moved into a West Philadelphia rowhouse and stated that he intended to gain employment as a cleaner, attend the Bible Way Baptist Church, get a gym membership, and visit his sister and nieces and nephews in New Jersey.[9]
Upon his release, Ligon became America's longest serving juvenile lifer, having served 68 years behind bars.[3][9] The Vera Institute of Justice estimated it had cost the state of Pennsylvania nearly three million dollars ($44,000/year) to incarcerate him.[6]
References[edit]
- ^ https://ujsportal.pacourts.us/Report/CpDocketSheet?docketNumber=CP-51-CR-0311352-1953&dnh=cc7XA93C9fbppitULIhoAQ%3D%3D
- ^ "Sentenced To Life At Age 15, 82-Year-Old Man Tastes Freedom Once Again". Oxygen Official Site. February 16, 2021.
- ^ a b c d e f Natarajan, Swaminathan; Potts, Lauren (May 8, 2021). "Joe Ligon: America's 'longest juvenile lifer' on 68 years in prison". BBC. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
- ^ a b "Nation's oldest, longest-serving juvenile lifer is released from prison at age 83". ABA Journal.
- ^ a b Law, Heather; Simko-Bednarski, Evan (February 17, 2021). "After 68 years in prison, America's oldest juvenile lifer was released". CNN. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
- ^ a b "After 68 years in prison, "juvenile lifer" Joe Ligon is free and hopes for a "better future"". cbsnews.com.
- ^ Glanton, Dahleen. "Column: Joe Ligon, America's longest-serving juvenile lifer, has a message for young Black offenders". chicagotribune.com.
- ^ Heller, Karen. "He's looking forward to a better everything". washingtonpost.com. Washington Post. Retrieved October 14, 2022.
- ^ a b Heller, Karen (February 19, 2021). "He was locked up at age 15. Almost seven decades later, he's reentering an unfamiliar world". Washington Post. Retrieved February 1, 2024.