#1858 - Josh Dubin & Derrick Hamilton

Derrick Hamilton (0:04)

The Joe Rogan Experience.

Joe Rogan (0:13)

Joshua, my brother. Good to see you, my friend.

Josh Dubin (0:16)

It's great to see you, always.

Joe Rogan (0:18)

Please introduce your friend.

Josh Dubin (0:20)

Man, it's hard to introduce the unintroducible. So this is Derrick Hamilton, who has been regarded by the New Yorker as the most prolific jailhouse lawyer that ever lived. He is single-handedly responsible for freeing probably over 100 people, including himself. He spent three decades in jail for murders that he didn't commit.

He was framed by one of the most horrific corrupt cops in the city of New York's history, known by the name of Scarcella.

But more than that, he's become known as one of the biggest and most effective criminal justice reform advocates in the country.

And we'll get into it a little bit more later, but Derrick is not a miracle. He's a force of fucking nature. And I'll tell you a little bit about how we met and how we got involved together.

So probably about nine years ago, Jay-Z wanted to get into boxing. And Rock Nation started a promotional company to promote boxers. And Andre Ward was one of them. So we were on the opposite sides of the negotiating table. And it might be less or more than nine years ago. It was right on the heels of the Eric Garner murder when he was putting a choke hold on Staten Island. And Jay-Z was coming to sign the contract, and I was there with Jay Prince. And we started talking about what the fuck is wrong with this country.

And figured out that we had a common bond in that regard. So fast forward to a few years later, I find out through working with Rock Nation on just criminal justice reform initiatives that Jay-Z has this foundation that flies under the radar that is just remarkable. It's called the Sean Carter Foundation. He and his mother started it. And they take inner city youth, mostly from Brooklyn, really the five boroughs, and help give them an opportunity to go to college. But they start when they're in high school. They take them on a bus tour. They help them with the application process. And they literally change the trajectory of these people's lives. So I had this idea that I would have five of their scholars, we would do a scholarship program, come work on social justice cases with me. And Jay-Z's mom loved it. He loved it. Rock Nation, there's someone named Dona Diaz who runs their philanthropy arm. And she's on the board of the Sean Carter Foundation. We made it a reality. It took a couple of years. So this summer, I had five college students that were coming to work with me on innocence cases.

And I said, you know, I need somebody that can really connect with these people.

Because I have sympathy for the way they grew up, for the conditions that they were born into, for the opportunities that they didn't have. But I can't empathize because I'm white. It's just as simple as that. So I thought of Derrick. And I had met Derrick about five years ago after he had been out for only six years. And Derrick was the first person on my mind that could mentor these students.

And I asked him if he would join me in helping mentor them through this seven week program working with me on a case.

And over the past seven weeks, we're this close to freeing this man named Bruce Bryant, who they worked on together.

They worked on his case together. And to watch Derrick and to know his story, I knew right away that he'd be able to connect with them, but I did not know his power. So when he picks up the phone and calls a district attorney of Queens, they take his call right away. He calls the head of a conviction integrity unit that's involved in re-reviewing cases. He's got such deep respect and people in high places have such admiration for him because of what he was able to overcome in not only helping himself, but helping free others. He had a settlement with the city and the state. And instead of taking that settlement and resting on his laurels and doing whatever, which would have been understandable, he's dedicated his life to helping get people out of jail. And not only that, to helping reform the criminal justice system, but these are words like reform the criminal justice system. We kick around. This man is a, he is a human tornado of action that instead of leaving destruction in its wake, leaves hope, and instead of devastation, leaves opportunity. I mean, so maybe tornado was the wrong analogy, but I have just never witnessed anything like it. So I'm on the verge of starting this new Criminal Justice Reform Center, which we're not at liberty to announce, that is being funded by someone that I've talked about quite a bit on this show. And they were asking me to find a deputy director, you know, a lawyer. And I said, I looked at resumes, I interviewed people, and I said, I found him. I found my lawyer. He may not have a law degree, but he knows more about criminal procedure. He's more respected. He's the best strategic thinker I've ever encountered. And he knows human beings better than anyone. And Derrick's going to be my... I'm the executive director. Derrick is going to be my deputy director. And, I mean, I'll let him tell his story. But when you hear what he's been through and what he's overcome and what he has done since, he's not a force of... There's words aren't adequate to describe who this man is and what he's overcome and what he's been through. I was trying to suck an ounce of his mental energy on the ride over here from Houston. Just trying to understand how he summons the strength because I'm trying to use it and apply it in my own life. So it's just...