NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — A national nonprofit is urging President Trump, Tennessee Governor Bill Lee, and more than a dozen other governors not seeking re-election to expand clemency.
Matthew Charles is among those leading the push. His journey from inmate to advocate highlights the power of second chances, and he is no stranger to the system he is now asking to change.
Charles lives in North Nashville and works with FAMM, the national nonprofit advocating for expanding clemency and criminal justice reform.
The last 10 years of Charles’ life have been a whirlwind. After more than two decades in prison, he was granted early release in 2016. Charles said his attorneys successfully argued his original sentence was unfair and that he had changed.
"When I was sentenced in 1996, I was served a 100:1 sentence, meaning the crack-to-powder cocaine ratio was 100:1, so I received a 35-year sentence," Charles said.
Then, unexpectedly, a court reversed the decision, sending him back to prison. He was ultimately released under the federal First Step Act, which eased mandatory-minimum drug sentences.
"When the president of the United States first met me before I even worked for FAMM, before I even had a fellowship with FAMM, he said, 'You're going to help a lot of people," Charles said.
Last week, FAMM sent a letter to 18 governors urging them to use their clemency power more broadly. The governor's office did not respond to two requests for comment.
Read the letter to Governor Lee.
Lee has granted categorical clemency before. In 2021, his administration introduced an expedited clemency review process for drug-free school zone offenses, affecting roughly 335 inmates, according to the governor's office.
Charles named others he believes have earned that same opportunity. He said it shouldn't just be saved for extreme circumstances, where people catch media attention, or something went wrong in their case.
"Geriatric prisoners," Charles said. "The recidivism rate of someone who has a dire medical condition or who has aged significantly since they were incarcerated is lower than the regular recidivism rate."
"There are some other Matthew Charles who are locked up; there are other people who are worthy of a second chance, are deserving, but we don't like the word 'deserving,' we like to say they earned a second chance... As opposed to looking at the 5% of the prison population that is incorrigible and thinking that's 95%, they got the numbers backwards in the minds of some legislators."
If there's an issue or campaign you think Hannah can help shine a light on, email hannah.mcdonald@newschannel5.com.
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