JeDonna Young

A young mother with no prior convictions, JeDonna was one of the first to be sentenced to life without parole under Michigan’s notorious “650 lifer law.” JeDonna did not despair – she concentrated on earning her bachelor’s degree and became one of FAMM’s best known cases illustrating the need for reform.
 
When JeDonna heard the 1998 reforms had passed Michigan's legislature, she couldn’t believe it. “I had been fighting this for so long and gotten my hopes up so many times,” she explains. “I thought, when I get to the other side of the fence I’ll know it’s happened.” One of her most memorable moments was an interview she gave to Dan Rather for 60 Minutes II, the day she left prison.
 
Released almost a decade ago, Jedonna earned her Masters degree in social work, worked as FAMM’s Midwest Coordinator and with at-risk school children. She is currently FAMM’s Detroit coordinator.
 
“Mandatory minimum drug laws have a devastating impact on society,” Jedonna says. “When women and men go to prison, their families, their children are affected for a very long time. The effects of long prison sentences just don’t go away.”