You might think that the only “trade” an inmate can master in prison is making license plates.
But if you had to spend 17 years behind bars, you may as well use all that time to learn something that can actually lead to a career—which is why Darnell Epps spent most of his time in prison reading and studying. He ended up with a law degree from Yale University and, in the process, also creating a platform promoting careers in the trades.
His unusual journey shows that paying a debt to society can sometimes end up benefiting many others.
Rule of Law
Epps, 45, was incarcerated at the age of 20, after what he calls a misguided attempt to defend a family member with his brother went sideways. During the altercation, his brother struggled with another man for a firearm. It went off and resulted in the man’s death. Epps was charged as an accessory and sentenced to a New York state correctional facility. Ironically, being in the wrong place at the wrong time led Epps to be in the right place while behind bars: a job working in the prison’s law library.
