Issac Wright Jr, lawyer who inspired ABC’s for life, announces run for Mayor of New York City

Issac Wright Jr, the formerly incarcerated lawyer who inspired ABC’s For Life, has announced his run New York City‘s mayor.

Issac Wright Jr spent seven years in a New Jersey prison for a wrongful conviction.

Through willful determination, he studied law behind bars ultimately becoming a proxy-lawyer for fellow inmates and eventually proving his own innocence in court.

Now, more than a decade later, Wright has set another goal that would have seemed unattainable at the time of his imprisonment: the New York City mayor’s office.

Declared candidacy for mayor

Wright officially declared his candidacy for mayor on Tuesday, vowing to “address the racial, economic, environmental, and educational injustices that plague our city’s institutions.”

Wright, who will be running as a Democrat, told People Magazine he plans to run on a varied platform focused on housing, infrastructure the economy, and criminal justice reform.

He certainly understands the criminal justice system

Wright certainly understands the criminal justice system. In 1989, he was indicted in New Jersey for leading a drug trafficking ring, possession of cocaine with intent to distribute, maintaining or operating a narcotics production facility and conspiracy to distribute cocaine.

In 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.

Wright always 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 set to be sentenced, he went on the run, eventually killing himself in a Nevada hotel room.

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 reported by The New York Times, 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.

Issac Wright Jr goes to law school

After his release, he went on to graduate from Miami’s St. Thomas University School of Law in 2007.

He passed the bar in 2008 and currently works as a lawyer at Hunt, Hamlin & Ridley law firm in New Jersey. There, he focuses on “defending the wrongly accused and going after corrupt institutions,” according to the firm’s website.

While Issac Wright Jr. doesn’t have a traditional path to politics, he told People his experience is different than any other candidate “in the fray” and is ready for the challenge.

“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.”