Legal review
Reviewing the sentencing record and identifying avenues for relief.
Active case
Kevin Allen
Louisiana, USA
Serving a decades-long sentence for a nonviolent cannabis offense.
Active caseSentence relief
Kevin Allen is serving a lengthy sentence in Louisiana for a nonviolent cannabis offense — the kind of conduct that is now regulated and taxed in much of the country. Forgotten Prisoner is supporting efforts to secure sentence relief and a path home.
Case overview
When the punishment outlives the policy
Kevin Allen is imprisoned in Louisiana for a nonviolent cannabis offense, serving a sentence handed down under sentencing rules far harsher than those most states apply today.
Louisiana's habitual-offender framework has historically produced extreme sentences for conduct that carries little or no prison time elsewhere. As cannabis laws have changed across the country, people sentenced under the older regime have largely been left where they are.
Forgotten Prisoner is supporting review of his record and advocating for sentence relief so that his punishment reflects the seriousness of the conduct rather than the era in which it was charged.
Why this case matters
This case shows what happens when cannabis laws change faster than the sentences imposed under them.
Across the United States, cannabis is now legal medicine and legal commerce. People sentenced before those changes are still serving time for the same activity. Kevin's case is a direct test of whether reform means anything for the people it left behind.
Current advocacy
What we’re working toward
Clemency and sentence relief
Advocating for executive and judicial relief proportionate to the offense.
Family support
Keeping his family connected to the process and to the people working on the case.
Public awareness
Making the case visible to policymakers, press, and the public.
How you can help
