WLWT: How one of Ohio’s newest lawyers went from federal prison to UC Law
UC Law alum Damon Davis is helping individuals without representation navigate the justice system
Damon Davis took the oath for the Ohio Bar Admissions this month and is now a Hamilton County public defender.
Davis, a 2022 graduate of UC Law, spoke with WLWT-TV about his journey from former federal prison inmate to accomplished attorney. Davis spent four-and-a-half years behind bars after being convicted of federal drug and gun charges in 2017.
He was introduced to law while working in the prison library. Davis was released homeless and with only $26 to his name before finding a factory job that reimbursed his college tuition and offered a path forward. Davis attended community college and later the University of Kentucky for a bachelor’s degree. He completed UC Law with scholarship assistance.
“It means a lot to be here and be able to help these people,” Davis told WLWT. “To understand what they're going through and to have faced personally the things they're going through.”
While at UC Law Davis was an Ohio Innocence Project (OIP) fellow who wrote appeals for individuals in the prison system. Now a freshly-minted public defender, Davis is making a positive difference in his community.
Listen to the WLWT segment.
Read a digital story on WLWT’s website.
Spectrum News also produced a segment on Davis.
See a story on Davis from Court News Ohio.
Learn more about Damon Davis at UC Law.
Featured image at top: Damon Davis. Photo/UC Alumni Association.
Related Stories
WCPO-TV/Channel 9: Ohio Innocence Project at UC takes on possible wrongful conviction case
May 10, 2021
UC's Ohio Innocence Project helped earn freedom for a Cleveland man after more than 14 years in prison. Michael Sutton was one of two men convicted in 2006 as a teenager for the shooting of two people and the attemped shooting of a police officer. He and Kenny Phillips were freed on bond on May 3, 2021.
TIME: What Bill Cosby’s release really says about getting a conviction overturned in America
July 8, 2021
Mark Godsey, a UC Law professor, was one of the experts cited by TIME Magazine for a story on the release of comedian Bill Cosby.
Reuters: Walmart was hit with a $125 million verdict, but the law is on its side
July 30, 2021
Sandra Sperino of the UC College of Law was cited as a source in a story published by Reuters on a decision by a federal jury in Wisconsin to hit Walmart with $125 million in punitive damages for firing a longtime employee with Down Syndrome.
WCPO: Sittenfeld motion to dismiss high bar to meet, says UC law expert
January 4, 2021
Don Caster, an attorney with the University of Cincinnati College of Law and Ohio Innocence Project, says the federal government tends to only take on cases in can win in regards to Cincinnati City Councilman P.G. Sittenfeld's motion to dismiss federal charges against him.
Cincinnati Law Dean appointed to anti-corruption task force
January 27, 2021
Verna Williams, UC College of Law Dean and Nippert Professor of Law, has been appointed to a new nine-member task force in Cincinnati.
Cincinnati Business Courier: Opera, book, film cast light on UC's Ohio Innocence Project
February 8, 2021
A book, opera and film are all helping to shed light on the work done by the Ohio Innocence Project at UC Law. Outside of Cincinnati, the OIP is fast becoming a model for innocence projects around the world.
WHIO: First Black woman elected to Dayton Municipal Court reflects on 42 years behind the bench
February 4, 2021
Alice McCollum, the first woman, and first Black woman, elected to the Dayton Municipal Court, reflects on 42 years of service in the legal profession.
Vox: How school funding can help repair the legacy of segregation
February 17, 2021
Cincinnati Law dean Verna Williams discusses the implications of educational segregation on Black students and students of color.
The Atlantic: The breathtaking ingenuity of incarcerated artists
February 9, 2021
Gillispie was freed thanks to UC's Ohio Innocence Project in December 2011 after serving 20 years in prison for rapes he did not do.
Cleveland.com: Men imprisoned since 2006 get new trial after Cleveland police officers contradict fellow officers’ testimony
March 22, 2021
An appeals court granted a new trial for two men who spent the last 14 years in prison for the shooting of two people and the attempted shooting of a Cleveland police officer. The unanimous decision issued by the 8th District Court of Appeals found that Cleveland police and Cuyahoga County prosecutors denied Kenny Phillips and Michael Sutton a fair trial by failing to tell the men’s defense attorneys that officers gave conflicting statements about the shootings, and not calling them testify at trial. The Ohio Innocence Project represents Sutton. Mark Godsey, director of the Cincinnati-based Ohio Innocence Project, said that attorneys for the men would ask the courts to release the men on bond immediately pending their new trial.