About

The Lazarus Law and Justice Project (LLJP) is a newly formed nonprofit organization. Our mission is to defy an unjust legal system and nullify systemic racism. Our vision is to make America better for everyone, regardless of race, ethnicity, or color.

My daughter, Chloe Corbett, and I started the LLJP following two events. The first event was the arrest of me, Chloe, and my son by the Dallas Police Department for two misdemeanor charges we didn’t commit. It all started when we stood up against racial profiling by staff at the Cinepolis Theatre. We spent a harrowing night in jail awaiting bail. The conditions were horrible. The jail staff treated us like sub-humans. The food was awful, the temperature was cold, our beds were cement, and worse of all, we had absolutely nothing to do.

However, this bitter experience was also sweet. God orchestrated and used that night in jail to affect us profoundly. We can’t forget the people we met. We became their comrades. As criminal defense and civil rights lawyers, we’ve represented many defendants, some guilty and not guilty. Still, this experience empowered us with a much greater understanding and compassion for the plight of the accused, especially those falsely accused and wrongfully convicted.

The second event that helped to create the LLJP was the docuseries When They See Us. This riveting story of five innocent black and brown teens who spent years in violent prisons for a rape they didn’t commit brought us to tears and made us very angry. Watching and experiencing this story convinced us we had to use our resources to help free other people. The gross injustice the criminal justice system committed against Corey Wise, Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Yusef Salaam, and Raymond Santana is etched forever in our memory and conscience. The thought that there are others behind the tomb haunts and moves us deeply.

There are injustices in this great nation of ours that land people, predominantly black and brown people, in prison long before they are sitting in a cell. Those injustices are embedded in America’s systems, including education, employment, and others. For this reason, LLJP is also dedicated to fighting systemic racism. As painful as individual racism can be, its racist patterns, practices, and policies in systems that form our democracy that are most harmful.

Fortunately, Chloe and I are lawyers and can fight systemic racism in the courts. However, we cannot fight for and pursue justice without your help. Your volunteerism and donations are essential. Working together, we can send innocent fathers, mothers, brothers, aunts, uncles, husbands, sons, nieces, and nephews back home to their families. We can change systems and hold accountable those systems that refuse to change. We can make God smile!

Thank you for listening to our story and for your help.