Change is Long Overdue: The Story of Debbie Campbell

My name is Joshua Bevill.  I'm serving my 14th year of a 30-year federal prison sentence for a low-level, nonviolent offense.  In federal prison, I've spent the last 14 years immersed in every facet of federal sentencing law.  I spend my days helping other inmates pinpoint and articulate legal arguments.  Sadly, prisoners don't have a right to an attorney during the post-conviction stage and most cannot afford $100 in prison commissary much less thousands for an attorney.  So I help them.  And through The Justice Project, we help connect them to an attorney.

The Justice Project also showcases my blogs and articles.  In them, I write about the men and women who selflessly devote their lives to helping prisoners.

And that brings me to Debbie Campbell.

Over the past decade there has been much talk about prison reform. Particularly sentencing guidelines for nonviolent drug offenses. But for all the talk, there are still countless men and women rotting in cells, doing time that does not match their crime.

Debbie Campbell knows a thing or two about sitting in a prison cell, waiting for a second chance at life. In the early 90s, she and her husband began using methamphetamine. Eventually she began selling to others to help make a little money for her family. She wasn’t a drug kingpin by any means. She was just selling a little bit here and there to bring in some extra cash to keep her family together.

Debbie was eventually arrested when a woman she sold drugs to took a plea deal for a shorter sentence. This woman ended up inflating the amount of drugs Debbie sold, no doubt encouraged by the federal prosecutors. Debbie contested the drug amounts at sentencing, but all it got her was an even longer sentence for “obstruction of justice.” You read that correctly.  Because Debbie had the audacity to object to gross factual inaccuracies in her Presentence Investigation Report regarding uncharged phantom drug deals that had a significant impact on the length of her sentence, the judge yanked her sentence reduction for acceptance of responsibility as well as added more time for obstruction of justice.

Put differently, because Debbie exercised her right to basic procedural fairness, the judge turned her 8-year sentence into a 20-year sentence, unfairly taxing her with more than a decade in prison.

At any rate, in May of 1994, Debbie was sentenced to 19 years and seven months in federal prison. The woman who bought the drugs but cooperated? She received only probation, a mere slap on the wrist.

Debbie was never one to play victim. She knew she had broken the law and she was ready to serve her time. What she didn’t realize was that federal mandatory sentencing laws would require her to spend nearly 20 years behind bars for a first-time nonviolent drug offense. She was also disheartened to learn that there is no parole in federal prison. The best she could hope for was earning time off for good behavior. But even then a prisoner cannot reduce their sentence by more than 15%.

In those first few years behind bars, Debbie did her best to get her life together. She earned an associate’s degree in business administration and then continued on toward a bachelor’s degree in social science. She also took part in the Prison Fellowship ministry, trying to keep her soul out of the darkness.

But as the years marched by ever so slowly, Debbie couldn’t help but feel her light was dimming and her hope dwindling. She believed in her heart she would somehow never have to actually serve her full sentence. It was such a bogus and unfair sentence. She knew of others who had been convicted in federal prison of murder, manslaughter and kidnapping who were serving less time than she was!

Debbie sought to have her sentence commuted but was denied three times. She focused on earning as much good behavior credit as was allowed her, and was eventually released back to her family after serving 16 years in prison.

Since her release Debbie has continued with her education and looked after her grandchildren so her own daughter could go back to school. She also volunteers with a prison reentry group. She is doing everything she can think of to make up for lost time and make a positive impact in her local community.

As part of her position at Families Against Mandatory Minimums (FAMM), she has devoted her life to helping prisoners get access to legal labor.  In the end, what that particular judge meant for evil, God used for good.

Sadly, Debbie’s story is not unique. There are countless men and women just like her who are spending 20 or more years behind bars for nonviolent drug offenses. These unduly harsh sentences aren’t doing a thing to help curb drug use in this country. All they are doing is tearing families apart.

We must all continue to be outspoken and demand reform of our sentencing laws. Change is long overdue.

Debbie is part of dream team, right up there with MiAngel Cody, Brittany K. Barnett, Amy Povah, Mark Osler, and JaneAnne Murray.

She's an inspiration to us all.