Joseph M. Giarratano was condemned by the Commonwealth of Virginia to die by electrocution for the murders of Barbara "Toni" Kline and her daughter, Michelle. When he took up residence on death row, he was semi-literate, a drug addict, a loner and a loser.

While on death row, Giarratano turned his life around. He educated himself by reading widely in philosophy, theology and law; he became a jail-house lawyer who prepared briefs and appeals for fellow inmates, a teacher who instilled principles of non-violence in his fellow prisoners, and a lecturer who introduced the realities of the criminal justice system to visiting classes from Georgetown University Law School, the University of Maryland Law School and Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School.

Today, Joe is still waiting for that trial. Once referred to as "the most famous prisoner in America", Joe now lives in isolation in the westernmost part of Virginia in one of two new supermax facilities, Wallen's Ridge State Prison.

Locked down for 23 hours a day in a bare 11-by 8-foot cell with virtually no human contact other than letters from his friends and supporters, he spends his days writing letters and practicing Zen meditation. Before he is allowed out of his cell to exercise in a concrete enclosure the size of a dog kennel, he is strip searched, handcuffed, shackled and led on a dog leash. Two guards accompany him; one holds the leash, the other presses a laser gun against his ribs.

"Generally," he writes, "I am holding up well under the rigors of supermax segregated confinement, probably better than many. Nevertheless, I know that anyone subjected to this type of ordeal -- especially for long durations -- does not escape unscathed. I know, in my own experiences here and from past experiences with long-term isolated-segregated lockdowns, i.e. my years on the row, the tremendous amount of mental concentration it requires just to keep one's head above water. There are times, even now, when I'm not so sure of my own grip on reality.  . . .More and more, I find myself having to turn inward just to maintain my balance in this madness; and even then, I must remain on guard for hallucinations, feeling of suffocation, paranoia, fear, and even rage."

It is one of the purposes of this web site to mount a renewed and intense public effort to free Joe Giarratano from prison. 

Freeing the wrongfully convicted is never easy and it takes the efforts of many people to do so. Joe has many friends and supporters, you can be one of them