James Swansey

James Swansey is the Policy Manager at Restore Justice Foundation. He graduated from the Future Leaders Apprenticeship Program at Restore Justice and worked on the Illinois campaign to abolish life without parole for children. He continues advocacy to end LWOP nationwide, participates in healing circles, and conducts outreach at food pantries. James enjoys being a big brother to his younger brother and sister.

In 1993, at the age of 17 years old, James was tried as an adult and convicted of double homicide and armed robbery. He was sentenced to life without parole. During his incarceration, he started to believe that he was not who others said he was and that he was not defined by his worst mistake. Instead, he believed he was capable of changing.

In 2018, James was resentenced under Miller vs. Alabama, a US Supreme Court ruling giving second chances to people who were children at the time of the crime that resulted in a life without parole sentence. He came home in 2020 after serving almost 28 years.

James’ leadership philosophy is: “Leadership comes in all shapes, sizes, emotions, and words. Learning is leadership.”