James E. Felman: A Tireless Advocate

My name is Joshua Bevill.  I'm serving my 14th year of a 30-year federal prison sentence for a low-level, nonviolent offense.  In federal prison, I've spent the last 14 years immersed in every facet of federal sentencing law.  I spend my days helping other inmates pinpoint and articulate legal arguments.  Sadly, prisoners don't have a right to an attorney during the post-conviction stage and most cannot afford $100 in prison commissary much less thousands for an attorney.  So I help them.  And through The Justice Project, we help connect them with an attorney.

The Justice Project also showcases my blogs and articles.  In them, I write about   the men and women who selflessly devote their lives to helping prisoners.

And that brings me to James E. Felman.

Felman has been called “a truly remarkable attorney” by his peers and for good reason. The 2023 Selig I. Goldin Memorial Award recipient has contributed to advancing the science of jurisprudence by teaching, lecturing, and practicing law in a manner that sets the highest standard.

A National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers board member, Felman chairs the group's Task Force on First Step Act Implementation and is a former ABA Criminal Justice Section chair.

A tireless advocate for legal reform in the policy arena, Felman has made extraordinary contributions to improving the criminal justice system. Devoting a significant portion of his professional efforts to legal reform and policy work, Felman has testified before the United States Senate, House of Representatives, and Sentencing Commission, and frequently writes and speaks on criminal justice policy issues.

With an almost unmatched passion for fixing our justice system, it’s unsurprising that Felman is also a founding member of the Steering Committee for Clemency Project 2014 and a former co-chair of the Practitioner’s Advisory Group to the U.S. Sentencing Commission.

Upon receiving the 2023 Selig I. Goldin Memorial Award, Felman said he was honored to join a “small army” of volunteer lawyers who worked on the Obama Administration’s clemency reform project. “We filed more than 3,000 clemency petitions.” While only 894 of those were granted by the president, Felman and the other volunteers took comfort in knowing that the program helped qualifying inmates “erase” years off their sentences.

Righting Wrongs

One such case was that of Jim Ledford, a man who at one time described himself as, "a mixed-up, messed-up dude addicted to methamphetamine.” Ledford’s addiction had completely turned his world, and that of his family, upside down. He had been arrested four times in 11 months, and was in and out of state prison twice, leaving his kids to be raised by their grandparents. 

By 2003, Ledford already had multiple state convictions for drug possession, theft, and possession of a firearm by a felon. That same year he began selling, as he says, “enough drugs to stay high.”

He was also newly married, and when his bride happened to be pulled over one day, police found a pound of meth in the trunk. Ledford immediately claimed it to save his wife from facing charges. 

The chivalrous act may have scored him some points at home, but it also got Ledford a federal charge - possession of 500 grams or more of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. Normally Ledford would have been sentenced to under 22 years in prison. But because of his past four felony drug convictions, prosecutors decided to throw the proverbial book at him and sentenced him to mandatory life in prison. 

A father and husband sentenced to rot behind bars for the rest of his life because of a few non-violent drug offenses. The story would typically end here. But life was to throw Ledford a rope in the form of a group of determined lawyers, hellbent on giving prisoners a second chance at life. 

As leader of the 2014 Clemency Project, Felman personally took on Ledford’s case, working tirelessly to get the father and husband freed. It wasn’t easy as Felman and the other volunteer attorneys were up against a ticking clock, needing to get all 3,000 petitions in before President Obama left office. They were also drawing increasing bipartisan criticism over the allowance of nongovernmental groups heavily influencing policy. 

But these daunting hurdles didn’t faze Felman and his team. This was the chance every criminal defense lawyer hopes for: to be able to save thousands of people languishing in prisons serving sentences that were handed out over draconian sentencing laws.  

Felman’s hard work paid off and Ledford was released in June of 2018. “I’m extremely gratified that the president granted his commutation,” Felman has said. “He was extremely deserving, and it’s very gratifying to be able to help someone get the relief they deserve.”

It is interesting to note that the state of Florida, where Felman practices law, was once Ground Zero in the war on drugs. But the Sunshine State had the most commutations from Obama, perhaps a testament to the growing belief that much of the punishment handed out back then was unjustly harsh. 

Felman agrees that it only makes sense that the state where so many were unjustly sentenced should lead the way in righting those wrongs. “We were the heart of unfairness here in those years,” he said. “We were prosecuting the most people under the most stringent laws and locking up the most people for too much time. Some of these sentences were excessive.”

The Fight Continues

With the tremendous success Felman and his Clemency Project have had over the years, it would be very easy to rest on his laurels, take fewer cases, and play golf most afternoons. But Felman acknowledges there is more work to be done.

At the 2023 Selig I. Goldin Memorial Award celebration, Felman urged his colleagues to join his effort to reform federal rules of criminal procedure so that defendants can get easier access to discovery.

“This is a battle we’ve got to fight.”

Alongside super advocates like MiAngel Cody, Brittany K. Barnett, JaneAnne Murray, Mark Osler, Karen Morrison, and Amy Povah, Felman is part of my dream team, remarkable people who help the weak and powerless in their darkest hour.

Mr. Felman is an incredible attorney and an amazing human being.