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Jarrett Adams' life changed forever in the summer of 1998. At just 17 years old, the South Side Chicago teenager attended a party at the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater. Three weeks later, a police officer's business card left on his doorstep marked the beginning of a nightmare: Adams and two friends were accused of sexual assault. Despite evidence contradicting the accuser’s claims, Adams was convicted and sentenced to 28 years in a maximum-security prison.
What followed was a journey of injustice, perseverance, and redemption that turned a wrongfully imprisoned teenager into a defense lawyer determined to reform the system that failed him.
Adams firmly believes his case was tainted by racial bias from the start. "We were all Black, accused by a White girl. No matter what we said, we weren’t going to be believed," he recalls. Tried as an adult at 17, Adams faced a justice system ill-equipped to ensure fairness.
While one co-defendant could afford private representation, Adams and the third accused relied on public defenders. After the first trial ended in a mistrial due to inconsistencies in the accuser’s testimony, Adams’ public defenders adopted a “no defense” strategy during the retrial, failing to call witnesses or present key evidence. The result was devastating: Adams was convicted and sentenced to 28 years in prison. His co-defendant with private counsel had all charges dismissed and never spent a day behind bars.
Adams entered prison as one of the youngest inmates, scared and uncertain of his future. A turning point came when a fellow inmate challenged his mindset, urging him to study law. Inspired, Adams immersed himself in the prison library, teaching himself about the legal system that had failed him.
He learned that his public defender’s failure to call a critical witness constituted ineffective assistance of counsel—a violation of his constitutional rights. Determined to prove his innocence, Adams began writing to attorneys across Wisconsin, detailing his case.
His persistence paid off when the Innocence Project took on his case in 2004. After years of appeals, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals overturned his conviction in 2006, citing inadequate legal representation. Adams walked free in 2007, nearly a decade after his wrongful imprisonment.
Freedom was just the beginning. Adams enrolled in college soon after his release, earning an associate’s degree before graduating with honors from Roosevelt University. In 2015, he completed his law degree at Loyola University Chicago, fulfilling a promise he made while incarcerated.
Adams didn’t stop there. Returning to Wisconsin—the state where he was wrongfully convicted—he began practicing law, focusing on defending those who face similar injustices. “To walk into the same courtroom where I was convicted and be addressed as an attorney is a powerful reminder that I’m human, and I deserve respect,” Adams says.
Adams’ story highlights broader systemic issues. Black Americans make up 13% of the U.S. population but account for 50% of exonerations, often due to racial bias and inadequate legal representation. Adams argues that systemic change requires more diversity in the legal profession, including Black judges, prosecutors, and attorneys.
“I hope my story inspires young Black men and women to infiltrate the system and redefine it,” he says.
Today, Adams uses his personal experience to fuel his work as a defense attorney. Through his practice and advocacy, he strives to prevent others from enduring the same fate he once did. His journey from wrongful imprisonment to legal defender serves as a testament to resilience and the power of seeking justice against all odds.
