This petition is a plea for justice and humanity on behalf of Russell Bowen, a resident of Calvert County, MD. Mr. Bowen has been incarcerated since 2014 under charges that have raised questions about the fairness of his trial and sentencing. His original lawyer was unfit to represent him adequately, leading to an excessive sentence of 20 years - 15 years for possession of 1.7g heroin that was not found on him but turned in by someone else after he had already been taken into custody.

In addition to this questionable charge, Mr. Bowen received two concurrent six-year sentences for probation violations; one for testing positive for marijuana and another for the new charge brought against him. Despite these circumstances, all requests made by Mr. Bowen seeking help have been denied.

Those who know Mr. Bowen personally vouch that he is a good person who has grown significantly over the years despite spending most of his teenage and adult life behind bars - an environment meant to rehabilitate offenders rather than violate their human rights or treat them like less than human beings.

Mr. Bowen's desire is simple; he wants the chance to grow up outside prison walls, start a family, live as any normal civilian would – yet this right has been denied from him repeatedly despite pleas in open court from himself and others stating his need for help. He has pled in open court 12+ times for addiction help and filed plenty of ARPs in the MD DOC system begging for help and they have yet to help him. Over time, once can access them, the original police report from his arrest and proof of how many times he pleaded to the court for help will be uploaded here so be sure to keep an eye out.

This petition calls upon the legal community, anywhere that is willing to help, to revisit Russell's case with fairness at its core – providing adequate legal representation this time around while also addressing his addiction issues with compassion rather than punishment/bias against addiction alone.

We believe everyone deserves a second chance at life – let us give Russell Bowen his chance too! Please sign this petition today!

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