Amistad Law Project and Straight Ahead are thrilled to host the first Philadelphia screening of No Way Home, a documentary about the movement to end Life Without Parole in Pennsylvania and a mother’s struggle to reunite her family!

No Way Home traces the story of Lorraine Haw, known as Mrs. Dee Dee, as she grapples with the trauma of living on both sides of the epidemic of gun violence in Philadelphia. Earlier in life, Mrs. Dee Dee’s younger brother was shot to death in his apartment complex after an argument over a gold necklace turned fatal. Years later, still reeling from the tragic death of her brother, she was devastated to see her son sentenced to mandatory life without parole in prison. A leader in the movement to end mass incarceration in Pennsylvania, Mrs. Dee Dee’s story reflects the experiences of thousands of people in Pennsylvania who simultaneously sit on both sides of the gun violence epidemic: having lost loved ones to gun violence and also having lost loved ones to the carceral system.  

Through the story of Mrs. Dee Dee’s son, Phillip Ocampo, No Way Home underscores the cruelty of the felony murder rule, which holds a person liable for murder if someone dies while they commit a felony––even if they did not personally kill anyone and didn’t intend for anyone to die, like a getaway driver in a robbery. In Pennsylvania, the minimum sentence for felony murder is life without parole.

Join us on Friday, June 30th for the first Philadelphia screening of No Way Home and a town hall discussion on life without parole and the need for second chances in PA's prisons.