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After being arrested for a misdemeanor assault committed during his first year, Class of 2013 College alumnus Jared Brown has actively worked to improve the lives of other young people of color and was recently pardoned for his arrest by Governor Ralph Northam.
Brown, an Echols Scholar and former Lawn resident, was incarcerated for an assault charge in 2009 and remained in a jail cell for approximately two weeks. After this experience, Brown took a few weeks off of school, then came back with the help of the University and decided to use this experience to empower other young people.
In an interview with The Cavalier Daily, Brown said that his “arrest and incarceration was the most defining experience” of his young adult life.
“It radically shifted my professional interests from becoming a corporate lawyer to pursuing my life's work of creating a more inclusive, equitable and forgiving environment where all young people can achieve their full potential,” Brown said.
During his time at the University, Brown was the chair of the Memorial for Enslaved Laborers Committee, a student-led committee that began in 2010 to honor the more than 4,000 enslaved laborers who built and maintained the University. He also wrote for The Cavalier Daily’s opinion section.
Since graduating from the University, Brown has worked for the United Negro College Fund, an organization that funds scholarships for Black students. After UNCF, he worked for My Brother’s Keeper Alliance under the Obama Foundation, an organization that works to address the opportunity gaps young men of color face. Brown currently works for Facebook as an associate manager in the government outreach department.
In 2020, Brown was recognized by Forbes on the 30 under 30 list for his work in bridging the educational and opportunity gaps for young Black men and helping fellow young men of color earn second chances.
Ten years after Brown was arrested and incarcerated, his crime was pardoned by Governor Northam.
There are three different pardons a petitioner can receive — simple, conditional or absolute. Brown submitted a pardon petition in September 2019 and was granted a simple pardon in October 2021, which is an official statement of forgiveness that does not remove the conviction from the petitioner's record.
“The purpose of the petition was to seek formal forgiveness for the crimes that I committed and to fuel my civic mission, which is to empower young offenders to pursue second chances and live rich, inspired and fulfilling lives,” Brown said.
In May 2021, Northam released a new pardoning action plan. Northam appointed Lethia Hammond — who was the designated Juvenile and Domestic Relations prosecutor prior to her appointment — to vice-chair of the Virginia Parole Board, which grants, denies and revokes parole in addition to making recommendations about pardon applications to the governor. He also announced the new clemency initiatives, which eliminate the requirement for petitioners to obtain copies of their criminal history and include a redesigned pardons website and petition portal.
The length of the petition process is hard to predict and petitioners do not have the opportunity to testify on their behalf.
As of Aug. 31, Northam pardoned 604 people, which is more than the previous nine governors combined — former governor Terry McAuliffe previously held the record for most pardons by a Virginia governor, pardoning 227 people during his tenure.
The Innocence Project at the School of Law has contributed to accelerating these pardons by investigating wrongful convictions in the Commonwealth of Virginia, and also works to enact policy change to protect Virginians against wrongful convictions.
There are two components to the Innocence Project — the academic clinic and the Student Pro Bono clinic. Current Law students are able to work for credit in a year-long program in the academic clinic. The Student Pro Bono clinic is made up of volunteer law students who earn pro bono credit while they work on the project. In the month of August alone, three clients of the Innocence Project were pardoned.
When asked what message Brown has to empower other young people going forward, he noted the importance of recognizing the possibility for change.
“Don’t allow mistakes to cripple or discourage you,” Brown said. “Your life matters and the world needs you more than ever. If you put in the spiritual, emotional and intellectual work to transform yourself, you can transform society.”
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