This life is very short and every second we spend in it matters a lot. On the 20th of February, 1953 a 15-Year-Old Boy, Joseph Ligon went to party with his colleagues. They got drunk and they made a mistake that would later affect them for the rest of their lives. They were drunk, so they ended up robbing and s.t.a.b.b.i.n.g 8 people that night.
Two of the victims lost their lives while the others were badly injured. As a result of this, Joe Ligon was arrested and he went to trial where he pled guilty to the crime. Unfortunately, he was sentenced to a mandatory life imprisonment after he pled guilty. He was incarcerated in February, 1953. He lost his entire childhood and spent most of his life behind bars.
Joe Ligon as a child
He was meant to spend the rest of his life in prison but something happened in 2017. After spending almost 7 decades inside the prison, he was eligible for parole which means he would spend some time out of jail and return back. Instead of accepting this offer, Joe rejected the parole as said if he is going to get out of jail, he does not want to ever return back behind bars again, so it is better for him to stay than leave and come back later. The man said he had spent too many years in the jail than going out for a while and returning later or getting supervised for the rest of his life. So, he rejected the offer!
See how he has been ageing in the prison for the past 68 years
His Attorney started fighting that the mandatory life sentence for a crime Ligon committed when he was a child was unconstitutional because he claims that his client did not kill anyone that night. His only crime was stabbing people which he regrets and has spent most of his life in prison because of that. The Attorney lost the case in 2020 but he refused to stop fighting. He managed to bring the case to the Federal Court in November 2020 and luckily he won the case.
See How Ligon looks now after decades in prison
See what he looks like when he was arrested!
It has been 68 years that Joe has been in the prison and he thought he was going to rot in there because he was sentenced to Life imprisonment but God finally intervened. After his Attorney won the case in 2020, Joe Ligon was let out of prison in 2021.
He is now a free man, see what he looks like after regaining his freedom few days ago
After Ligon got out, he said he wants others to learn from his experience. He is literally like an alien in this world because everything is new to him. He has been in jail since the 20th century and he got out in the 21st century, many things have changed and he will just start learning how to survive all again. Currently, Joe is 83 years old and he has been in jail since he was just 15 years old.
