Ernest Boykin

Biography

Ernest Boykin was 41, not halfway through a 15-year sentence in federal prison, and COVID had been hitting prisons hard for months. He had underlying medical conditions that put him at high risk if he contracted the disease, and on lockdown, conditions inside deteriorated by the day. He applied to the warden for compassionate release and was denied. Despair would have been easy.

But somehow, Ernest stayed hopeful. “You have to understand that the job of any warden is to keep you there. It’s not to let you out. So when they reject you, you’ve got to keep the faith. And that’s the hardest part. You’ve got to believe, and you’ve got to be diligent. You’ve got to meditate, pray, whatever you do, you’ve got to channel positive energy. You’ve just got to stay the course because it’s not a quick process.”

His attitude paid off: On July 17, 2020, a judge granted him compassionate release, stating in the memorandum that “Mr. Boykin has provided a sufficient extraordinary and compelling reason for compassionate release.”

Ernest grew up in Washington, D.C. “I was blessed,” he says. “I had a good educational foundation. I went to college.” But it was hard to stay clear of trouble, and he was in and out of prison for drug crimes in his twenties. He put that life behind him when he had kids, though, until he was in a car accident in his thirties, which left him badly injured and on pain medication. Addiction set in. “The next thing I knew,” he says, “I had reintroduced myself to the world of crime.”

Learn more: https://famm.org/stories/compassionate-release-clearinghouse-ernest-boykin/