Issac Wright, Jr., the formerly incarcerated lawyer who inspired ABC’s drama For Life, announced that he’s running for mayor of New York City.
Wright spent seven years in prison for a wrongful conviction. While serving his time, he studied law before working as a proxy-lawyer for fellow inmates and eventually proving his own innocence in court.
Issac Wright, Jr.’s Story via PEOPLE:
In 1989, Wright was indicted in New Jersey with leading a drug trafficking network, possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, maintaining or operating a narcotics production facility and conspiracy to distribute cocaine.
By 1991, he had been sentenced to life in prison after being found guilty by a jury on all charges. He was ordered to serve at least 30 years before becoming eligible for parole.
But Wright maintained his innocence, filing a lawsuit against the state and a number of law enforcement employees, including the prosecutor, Nicholas Bissell, who Wright alleged had engaged in misconduct.
In 1996, those allegations were proven when Bissell was convicted on 30 felony counts, including embezzlement. Days before he was to be sentenced, he went on the run, eventually killing himself in a Nevada hotel room.
Bissell’s corruption proved integral to Wright’s case and allowed for a springboard off of which the then-prisoner discovered his passion for law.
During an evidentiary hearing in 1996, Wright cross-examined a police officer involved with the case, ultimately getting the detective to confess to misconduct and illegal cover-ups.
As The New York Times reported, Wright and his lawyer were subsequently able to prove that his 1991 conviction had been based on perjured testimony and an illegal seizure of drugs.
Wright was freed on bail in December 1996, tasting freedom for the first time in seven years.
Now more than a decade later, he has announced that he is running for mayor of NYC. Wright officially declared his candidacy for mayor on Tuesday, with a promise to “address the racial, economic, environmental, and educational injustices that plague our city’s institutions.”
Wright told PEOPLE, that he’s running because he have concerns about NYC’s future and he believes he’s positioned to govern in the current political and social climate.
Wright even shared how he felt when he saw the murder of George Floyd. “When I saw [the video of Floyd], I was angered by it. But I was not shocked. And I was not surprised by it,” Wright says. “Specifically because I understood the undercurrent and the reasons why that happened.”
“In my experience in life, nothing good happens, most of the time, without a fight,” Wright says. “You can scream, you can holler, you can protest — which are all good things, because we have to be heard — but no real, significant changes occur without rolling up your sleeves and getting into a fight.”
