Joseph Michael Giarratano

Joseph Michael Giarratano Obituary On October 6, 2024, Joe Giarratano died peacefully at the side of his loving companion, Anne. His death marked the end of a life filled with struggles against injustice and a fight for freedom. At one point, Joe was the most famous death row inmate in America. Convicted of a double murder in 1979, a crime that he clearly did not commit, Joe came within twenty-four hours of being executed before Virginia Governor Douglas Wilder granted him a conditional pardon based on significant concerns about factual innocence, reduced his sentence to life, and asked his attorney general to give Joe a new trial – a request that was refused. Joe would remain in prison until December 2017, when he was finally paroled. There were many remarkable things about Joe. For a man whose childhood was filled with pain and abuse, and whose education did not extend beyond high school, Joe was a compassionate, fiercely intelligent man who helped bring order to Virginia’s violent death row and who used his self-taught legal skills to litigate on behalf of his fellow inmates. One of the best examples of Joe’s talents involved fellow death row inmate Earl Washington, Jr., an intellectually disabled prisoner who came within eight days of being executed before Joe convinced a federal court to stay the process. Washington would later be fully exonerated, released from prison, and compensated for his wrongful conviction. More broadly, Joe’s efforts to improve prison conditions and prisoners’ access to attorneys impacted the lives of thousands of Virginia inmates. Joe did not pursue these prison reforms through aggressive protest or agitation. He practiced non-violent resistance, and often he would engage in hunger strikes to draw attention to necessary policy changes. Joe’s last hunger strike at the Red Onion State Prison led to serious health problems and the loss of a leg. He was subsequently paroled. Joe was not stingy in sharing his legal skills. When his friends or legal counsel visited, Joe would often point to a corrections officer and, with a grin on his face, say that “I’m helping him out.” That meant that Joe was writing a will or drafting divorce documents. It was the unlicensed practice of law that kept Joe safe in prison. His interest in seeking justice for the incarcerated did not abate after his release. Whether working for the Innocence Project or helping inmates with clemency and parole petitions, Joe continued to advocate for those without a voice. And he toured college campuses, helping students understand that state-sanctioned death was not the solution to fighting crime. Joe’s life was a miracle. He never stopped fighting the good fight, and, in the end, he defeated the staggering number of obstacles that were placed in his way. You have earned your rest, Joe. You will be missed by the endless number of friends who were privileged to join you on your journey.