TRUE GRIT

Triumph in Adversity

ISAAC WRIGHT, VINDICATED EX-CON

By Kristen Jones

Despite false allegations against him, Isaac Wright was sentenced to life in prison for being a drug kingpin. For most, that would be where their story would end. Most people who receive this sentence never have the chance to see the “outside world” again, but Wright is different. During his trial and incarceration, he set out not only to prove his innocence, but also to wage war against the criminal justice system that condemned him.

In 1991, Wright was tried and convicted in a Somerset County courtroom under New Jersey’s drug kingpin law. Wright represented himself at trial, and while he was serving a life sentence in prison (he was also sentenced to 72 years on other charges), he continued to study the law and oversee his own appeal. During the next several years, Wright also worked as a prison paralegal, winning freedom or reduced sentences for over 20 inmates, many of them serving life sentences. Some of his legal arguments formed the basis for laws that courts follow and lawyers argue today.

Wright’s own case was reinvestigated by the state attorney general, who uncovered police corruption and false testimony perpetrated by the prosecutor, Nicholas L. Bissell, who committed suicide rather than face arrest. Wright was released from prison in 1996, and his convictions were vacated and all charges were dismissed two years later.

After his release from prison, Wright earned a Bachelor of Science degree in human services from Thomas Edison State University in 2002 and a law degree from St. Thomas University in 2007. In 2017, Curtis Jackson (aka 50 Cent) signed a deal to produce an ABC TV series, For Life, inspired by Wright’s life. It gives insight into Wright’s time in prison and the events that shaped him there.

As of 2021, Wright is an attorney at a full-service law firm, Hunt, Hamlin & Ridley, in Newark, N.J. In December 2020, Wright announced that he would run for mayor of New York City as a Democrat. Although he didn’t win, he set the stage for what he called a fight to address the racial, economic, environmental and educational injustices that plague the city’s institutions. A man with true character, grit and determination, he is a living example of constantly fighting in a time when so many things are going wrong.

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