Reuters reached out to the CAN-DO Foundation seeking the names and intel regarding specific cases of clemency applicants who were experiencing difficulties after submitting applications to President Obama’s Clemency Project 2014 (CP14).  We had become extremely concerned over several cases, specifically Josephine Ledezma, a prisoner serving a life sentence that CAN-DO Founder Amy Povah had served time with. Although CP14 had assigned an attorney to investigate Josephine’s case, the attorney mysteriously disappeared. No one from the CAN-DO Foundation could locate her in a google search and  phone calls to members of the CP14 steering committee went unanswered. CAN-DO connected Ledezma and Linda Byrnes, another applicant in limbo, with Reuters reporter Julia Edwards hoping answers would surface during her investigation. Read the story:

Update: CAN-DO worked with Josie’s family members and connected them to clemency recipient Jason Hernandez who had expressed an interest in helping spotlight Latinas seeking clemency, especially since President Obama had not granted clemency to any Latinas, to date.  On Aug 5, 2016 Josie’s nightmare finally came to an end when the Warden at FCI Dublin told her she had received clemency.  That follow up story, entitled What it’s like when your mom gets clemency from the president after 24 years in prison can be read in Fusion by Casey Tolan.