Description

This program is read by the author Isaac Wright Jr

An empowering memoir of courage and hope in the face of injusticeand the basis for the ABC television show For LifeMarked for Life is the true story of Isaac Wright Jrs battle to win his freedom after being wrongfully imprisoned for crimes he didnt commit and a critical indictment of Americas judicial system

If I waited around for someone to save me Id be waiting my whole life Unless I took the reins of this thing myself I was going to die in prison If that was my destiny then I was going to die fighting The desperation of that equation kept me up most nights I would never find a gladiator So I had to become him

In the summer of 1989 Isaac Wright Jr was a 28yearold independent music producer whod struck out on his own and became one of hip hops early success stories With his dance crew Uptown Express Wright won recognition on Star Search toured with RunDMC and transitioned into management cofounding his wife Sunshines music group The Cover Girls Theyd settled in the New Jersey suburbs to raise their sixyearold daughter never imagining that Wright would fall victim to gross police misconduct and a corrupt district attorney

Accused of being a drug kingpin and incarcerated in Somerset County while the prosecutor and police built their case of lies against him Wright realized he would get no help from any defense attorneyswhite men uninterested in uncovering the truth or in proving the innocence of a black man Pressured to take a plea deal offer of 20 years behind bars Wright chose to take the law into his own hands by educating himself in the legal system so he could represent himself in court

Studying statutes and cases in the jails law library Wright became an adept legal mind But despite acquiring knowledge that he put to use in defending his fellow inmates he lost his trial and was sentenced to Trenton State Prison for life plus 70 years in 1991 For the next five years Wright would continue learning law become a paralegal with the prisons Inmate Legal Association and appeal his case Threatened by corrupt correction officers and convicts his family falling apart Wright fought for his life with every legal means at his disposal eventually uncovering the smoking gun that unraveled the conspiracy perpetrated by law enforcement officials against him

Marked for Life is not just the story of how Isaac Wright Jr won his freedom It is the story of how he found his true calling as a gladiator fighting on behalf of the oppressed and marginalized communities victimized by an unjust system of law

A Macmillan Audio production from St Martins Press