After spending 35 years in prison for murder, Judy Henderson was granted clemency in 2017, and then a full pardon the next year, from former Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens.
During her long stay, Henderson said the lack of privacy and needless cruelty from guards caused her to lose her humanity. In a system that was supposed to rehabilitate people, Henderson said she only found punishment. But these struggles did not stop her tenacity.
Once she adjusted to her new reality, Henderson earned her GED, became a paralegal and began teaching fitness classes for her fellow inmates. Even after decades in prison, Henderson persevered — and she knows what people in similar positions need to keep going.
“There's two things that are really a good combination: anger and the love of family and children,” Henderson said. “The combination gave me the strength, the power and the resilience to do what I needed to do to get my freedom. No matter how long it took, I was not going to give up.”
Now free, she works for Catholic Charities helping former inmates reintegrate into society, with things like getting identities, housing, and phones.
Henderson recently published an autobiography, "When the Light Finds Us," which documents her experience of an unjust legal system and corrupt prisons.
- Judy Henderson, author of "When the Light Finds Us"
