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We’re raising money to hire a new legal team for Michael Kimble, a long time prisoner and freedom fighter in Alabama, with the goal of achieving sentence reduction, and hopefully his release!
Michael Kimble is a passionate freedom fighter who has been held captive by the Alabama Department of Corrections for nearly 35 years. After defending himself during a homophobic attack by a known white supremacist in 1987, Michael was convicted and sentenced to life in prison. His trial was typical of what could be expected from a racist criminal justice system in Jefferson County, Alabama.
Speaking about his trial, Michael says,
“I was arrested and charged with the murder of a white, racist homophobe in November 1986 while walking with a friend late at night. I defended myself and my friend from attack after being called various racist and homophobic names…In 1987 I was found guilty of murder and sentenced to a life sentence after a farce of a trial. My court-appointed attorney neglected to put forth a vigorous defense, and my friend who was with me during the attack testified for the prosecution after being arrested for another crime and given leniency in return for testifying for the state.”
Since his conviction, Michael has been fervently involved in efforts to free himself and others, assisting in legal defense for fellow inmates, organizing reading groups and Black History events, speaking up for queer folks behind bars, and helping to organize and agitate alongside the Free Alabama Movement for the historic national prison strike of September 2016.
In 2020, a group of Michael’s supporters on the outside joined forces to hire a new legal team to help with his application for parole. Given the amount of time already served, we were hoping this could result in his release. Unfortunately, the Alabama Department of Corrections has been denying nearly all applicants across the board, and Michael was denied parole in February 2022. Now, we’ve found a new legal team has offered to pursue a meaningful sentence reduction, which could even result in his release, given the amount of time already served.
All the money raised will go directly towards filing motions for this sentence reduction, and anything left over will be used to support Michael’s day-to-day life inside with things like stamps, books, and commissary funds. Fingers crossed, we’ll also be continuing to raise money to support Michael once he joins us on the outside.
For more information, check out this awesome interview with Michael from a few years back, his statement (https://prisonersonferguson.wordpress.com/portfolio/44/) about reactions on his unit to the Ferguson uprising, as well as his blog.
Until Every Cage is Empty,
– Michael Kimble Support Crew