“Sometimes I feel like I’m lost in outer space.”
In 1982, at the age of 25 Willie Simmons was sentenced to life in prison with no hope of parole for stealing $9. He has been in prison for 40 years. Willie is going to be 65 years old this September.
This web site is intended to advocate for his release and compensation for the injustice done to him. We are a group of people working with a lawyer to help getting Willie help from outside.
How can you help Willie Simmons?
- Write him a letter
- Put money into his canteen account
- Sign online petitions
- Contact the Governor of Alabama
- Sign up for the newsletter
- Listen to media
How to write to Willie Simmons
Willie hasn’t had a visitor since his sister passed away in 2006. Receiving letters are his only way of staying in touch with the outside world. He responds to every letter, in his own unique handwriting! If possible, send return stamps in your letter. Thank you!
Willie Junior Simmons
AIS# 112862 L.12.A
9677 Hwy 21 North
Fountain 3800
Atmore, AL 36503
The rules for correspondence are here, found on this page.
How to fund his canteen account
- Start here.
- Select “Send Money to an Inmate”, which sends you here.
- If you select “Use Debit or Credit Card Online” you will end up here.
- At which point you will need to create an account.
- After your account is set up you need to select Willie Simmons
- For State select “Alabama”
- For Agency select “AL DOC”
- For ” Recipient ID” enter 112862 and select Find. It should return with Willie Simmons.
Sign online petitions
- Sign here, here, here, here, here, and here! Ya, there are six of them.
- Sign the Repeal the Habitual Felony Offender Act here.
Updates
- Tweet thread | Dec 22, 2020 here.
- Tweet thread | Jan 2nd, 2020 here.
- Tweet thread | Dec 31st, 2019 here.
- Tweet thread | Dec 21st, 2019 here. Facebook page with the complete thread, here.
- Post from Free Alabama Movement | Dec 15th, 2019 here.
- @justice_alabama says this is the Judge for a different person with the same name. Do not write to this Judge.
How to contact elected officials
| Governor | Kay Ivey | @GovernorKayIvey | 334-242-7100 |
| Lt. Governor | Will Ainsworth | @willainsworthAL | 334-261-9590 |
| Speaker of the House | Mac McCutcheon | @MacDistrict25 | 334-261-0500 |
| US Senator | Richard Shelby | @SenShelby | 202-224-5744 |
| US Senator | Tommy Tuberville | @SenTuberville | 202-224-4124 |
Newsletter
- Sign up here, for very infrequent updates.
Listen to media
- Poor Man’s Pain by Danielle Ponder here
- Ashes Ashes podcast – Minimum Justice here
- Beth Shelburne interviewed on NPR here
Social media
- Twitter profile here, also see hashtags #FreeWillieSimmons and #JusticeForWillieSimmons
- Facebook page here
- Instagram account here
- Wikipedia page here
Other posts using information from the Dec 21st, 2019 Tweet thread: essence.com, mediaite.com, boredpanda.com, confirmationbias.ocm
For the search engines: “Willie Simmons”, “Willie Junior Simmons”, “Alabama”, “Alabama Department of Corrections”, “Alabama DOC”.
Additional information
HB 107 – Repeal Alabama’s Habitual Felony Offender Act
- Details from ACLU of Alabama here
- “This bill would repeal Alabama’s Habitual Felony Offender Act (HFOA), provide for re-sentencing for defendants whose sentences were based on HFOA…”
- Thank Rep. Chris England for authoring this bill
- June 2021 update: the bill got out of subcommittee, and wasn’t voted by the general assembly. Alabama has a rather short legislative session, they are done for the year.
Justice for Willie Simmons 