DONNA LEONE HAMM, Judge (Retired)*

Donna Leone Hamm is the founder and Executive Director of Middle Ground Prison Reform, an all-volunteer non-profit organization formed in 1983. She is a former lower court judge* in Coconino and Maricopa counties, as well as a former town magistrate pro tem. Donna works as a private criminal justice consultant for executive clemency releases, a mtigation specialist, and an expert witness on prison and death penalty-related issues.

Donna's background includes having formerly served as Executive Director of Florence Crittenton Services of Arizona, Inc., a non-profit residential treatment center and outpatient clinic for abused, abandoned and delinquent teenage girls, ages 12-17. She also served as the Executive Director of Arizona Attorneys for Criminal Justice during its formative stages. She was one of the founding members of the Coalition of Arizonans to Abolish the Death Penalty (CAADP)and previously served on its Steering Committee. In addition, Donna is a board member of National C.U.R.E., a national criminal justice reform agency headquartered in Washington, D.C.  She is a Registered Principal Lobbyist at the Arizona State Legislature for Middle Ground Prison Reform.  Middle Ground is the state's only official lobbying/advocacy organization to protect and define the rights, privileges and responsibilities of prisoners and their supporters.  In 2007, she became a founding /steering committee member of the Arizona Rights Restoration Coalition.

Donna is an international speaker on the issues of prison and jail reform. She was a guest speaker to the International Conference on Human Rights & Prison Reform in New York in 2002, and made a presentation at the Pacific Sociological Association's Annual Conference in Vancouver, British Columbia in 2001. She is frequently a guest speaker/presenter at civic and community groups and to college and university classes throughout Arizona.

Donna has been qualified as an expert witness in state and federal courts on issues such as prison and jail policy and conditions, as well as on executive clemency releases  She has also testified in death penalty cases as a mitigation witness.   In 1993, she was appointed to the State's Sentencing & Parity Review Committee which reviewed the sentencing code and made recommendations for parity in sentencing..

She is an FAA licensed private pilot, certified in Coastal Sailing and SCUBA diving.   In addition,  she has logged more than 5,000 miles of offshore ocean sailing.  In 2007, she completed a six-week crewing trip from Mexico through the Panama Canal on a 46' sailboat.  Donna and and her husband, James Hamm, are proud grandparents of six children. Donna was born in Woonsocket, Rhode Island, but has been an Arizona resident since 1977.

JAMES J. HAMM, J.D.*

James Hamm spent nearly 18 years in the Arizona State Prison, from 1974 1992, for murder. He met Donna Leone in 1981 when she was touring the prison with fellow judges and a college professor. While in prison, he earned a Bachelor's Degree in Applied Sociology (summa cum laude) with an emphasis in Corrections. While in prison he tutored other inmates, wrote grants to obtain treatment programs and library services, worked as a clerk in the education department and as a law library assistant. He also developed a self-help law research program and presented it to fellow inmates. He successfully wrote and argued five out of six lawsuits on important issues while in prison, and his work resulted in favorable rulings by the courts in each and every case. Due to his exemplary record, he was granted a commutation of sentence (executive clemency) by Arizona's Governor in 1989.  He was paroled to the community in 1992.  In 1993, he enrolled at the Arizona State University College of Law . During law school, he was selected to tutor other law students in civil procedures and contract law. James * graduated law school in 1997 and later passed the bar exam. In 2001, he was granted an Absolute Discharge from his sentence, ending his formal obligation to the criminal justice system after twenty-seven years.  In 2005, his application for admission to practice law in Arizona was denied by the Arizona Supreme Court.  In 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court denied cert. in his case, and no further appeal is possible.  Today, James works as a Criminal Justice Consultant/Paralegal primarily for the law office of Ulises A. Ferragut, Jr. (602 324-5300), specializing in appellate and post-conviction relief work.  He also serves as an expert witness/consultant on various issues in Arizona and in other states on prison-related/death penalty mitigation matters.

James performs hundreds of hours of volunteer work each year for Middle Ground Prison Reform. James is a Designated Lobbyist for Middle Ground at the Arizona Legislature. He has been qualified in state and federal courts as an expert witness on issues of prison life, gangs and other criminal justice matters.

James is the Director of Advocacy and Program Services for Middle Ground. He is also an elected member of the Steering Committee for CAADP (Coalition of Arizonans to Abolish the Death Penalty). James also works closely with National C.U.R.E., including lobbying members of Congress. He is an effective, informed and outspoken critic of the present operation of our nation's prisons, clearly pointing out that he succeeded in prison despite the prison system, and not because of it.

James has made presentations on prisons, rehabilitation and other important criminal justice issues in the USA, as well as internationally. His story of rehabilitation and struggle for redemption has been featured on such programs as ``60 Minutes,'' ``Extra,'' and other national news-magazine features. In 2003, he received an award from ASU/West for recognition of his participation in its ``Executives In Residence'' Program. James has frequently presented lectures to Correctional Law classes at ASU, NAU and most of the community colleges in Maricopa County.  In 1997, James participated in a documentary film, entitled, "Be Down, Go Down," which is aimed at high school students who are at-risk for gang-related behavior.  The documentary was funded in part by the Arizona Supreme Court and was distributed to more than 800 schools in Arizona.

Like Donna, James is certified in Coastal Cruising/Sailing, and is grandfather to six grandchildren. He was born in Hays, Kansas.  In his rare spare time, James enjoys reading, bowling and spending time with family.