Joe Ligon was just 14 when he was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after being convicted of two counts of first-degree murder in 1953. Released in 2021 at age 82, he was stunned by the changes he saw on the streets.
Shock at Modern World
Ligon told CBS he "almost cried" as a free man but "broke down with a big smile on my face." Walking with journalists, he noted, "Those buses there they didn't exist because they had streetcar lines." He added, "I looked out and seen all these high buildings, but I expect to see that. They locked me up, they did, they didn't lock my mind up."
Background of the Crime
In 1953, Ligon was part of a gang of five youths who mugged people to buy alcohol, leading to the deaths of Charles Pitts and Jackson Hamm in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He received a life sentence without parole. In the 1970s, he declined clemency because he didn't want to spend his life on parole.
Supreme Court Ruling and Release
The US Supreme Court ruled that life sentences without parole for juveniles were unconstitutional, and in 2016 applied this retrospectively to Ligon's case. He was released from the State Correctional Institution – Phoenix, holding the record as the longest-serving 'juvenile lifer' in the United States.
Ligon's Statement
Ligon maintains he stabbed someone but didn't kill either man. He said, "I was guilty of being at the wrong place at the wrong time. It wasn't with the intention of hurting nobody. I didn't murder anybody." He added, "I'm sorry that I committed a crime. I'm sorry that someone was murdered, I'm sorry about that."
Most of his immediate family died during his imprisonment, but he remains grateful for his niece Valerie's support. He said, "Ain't nothing I can do about the past. But the only thing I can say, I just hope I have a better future."
