Black man who stole hedge clippers released from life sentence

Release from harsh sentence comes after freedom blocked by state’s top court

A black man who was imprisoned for life in Louisiana for stealing a pair of hedge clippers has been granted parole. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

A black man who was imprisoned for life in Louisiana for stealing a pair of hedge clippers has been granted parole.

Fair Wayne Bryant was released by the state’s parole board just months after he was denied freedom by the state’s Supreme Court.

The court’s chief justice Bernette Johnson had ripped that decision and wrote that the habitual offender law under which Bryant was sentenced was a “modern manifestation” of Jim Crow era laws. 

Bryant, 63, was jailed in 1997 for the burglary from a carport storage room at an inhabited home in Shreveport, Louisiana.

The three person parole panel heard that he had a record that included 22 arrests and 11 convictions, including four felonies, dating back to 1979, according to the Shreveport Times.

“I had a drug problem,” Bryant reportedly told the hearing.

“But I’ve had 24 years to recognise that problem and to be in constant communication with the Lord to help me with that problem.”

Conditions of his parole include attending Alcoholics Anonymous, observing an overnight curfew and community service.

“He has a support system that he's never had," Andrew Hundley of the Louisiana Parole Project told panel members.

The head of the American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana welcomed the unanimous decision.

“Now it is imperative that the Legislature repeal the habitual offender law that allows for these unfair sentences, and for district attorneys across the state to immediately stop seeking extreme penalties for minor offenses,” said executive director Alanah Odoms.