NATIONAL FAITH COALITION IN SUPPORT OF PAROLE AND COMPASSIONATE
RELEASE FOR MUTULU SHAKUR
June 14, 2022
Chairwoman Patricia K. Cushwa
Greg Thornton, Assistant General Counsel
United States Parole Commission
90 K Street N.E. 3rd Floor
Washington, DC 20530
Warden Francisco Quintana
United States Bureau of Prisons
FMC Lexington
3301 Leestown Road
Lexington, KY 40511
Honorable Merrick Garland, Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20530
Lisa O. Monaco, Deputy Attorney General
Office of the Deputy Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington, DC 20530
Dear U.S. Parole Commission, U.S. Bureau of Prisons, and U.S. Department of Justice,
We, the undersigned clergy, write to express our collective support for the immediate release of
Mutulu Shakur from prison. We strongly urge you to use your authority to do so. As faith leaders,
we believe in redemption and salvation - tenets that could not be more appropriately understood
than in the case of this 71 year old man in failing health who has been incarcerated for the past
36 years. Mr. Shakur is terminally ill with less than 6 months to live and is currently housed at the
U.S. Bureau of Prison Federal Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky.
We understand and appreciate the seriousness of the crimes for which he was convicted. Our
request is in no way meant to denigrate the victims’ families or ignore the loss of life. It is our
belief that Mr. Shakur has been more than adequately punished for those acts. The continued
incarceration of this terminally ill senior citizen serves no useful purpose as Mr. Shakur
represents absolutely no threat to public safety. For more than three decades, he has had no
serious infractions in prison. This exemplary accomplishment coupled with his age and dozens
of programs, classes and certificates he has been awarded all provide ample reason for you to
feel confident that releasing him is the right and humane thing to do.
Prior to his incarceration, Mr. Shakur championed community health with groundbreaking
healing practices to create the first acupuncture detoxification program in America. His program
of harm reduction improved the lives of so many men and women in communities throughout the
South Bronx. This acupuncture clinic rose to prominence and still functions to this day. Some of
those who benefited from the program became acupuncturists themselves. Dr. Mutulu Shakur's
legacy is cemented within this profound story of community healing and activism. Throughout his
36 years in prison he has maintained a close and nurturing relationship with his children who
anxiously await his release so that they can provide for and take care of him in his final stage of
life.