Irony? Foster should never have been in prison in the first place. He was sent to death row in 1997 under a draconian Texas legal statute called the Law of Parties.

He and three friends were hanging out in San Antonio, driving around in Foster’s grandfather’s car, when one of his buddies, Mauricio Brown, asked him to pull over so he could talk with someone. The other three men stayed in Foster’s car listening to music when Brown jumped back in the car.

Brown had killed someone. Both Foster and Brown were tried together and both received the death penalty, even though Foster not only did not kill anyone but had no idea a murder was going to happen!

When Foster’s execution date was set in 2007, an international grassroots campaign was launched by the Campaign to End the Death Penalty, Foster’s family and activists from around the country. A large public outcry was in motion. In a rare move, just a few hours before the execution, former Texas Gov. Rick Perry commuted Foster’s sentence to life. It was a joyous victory!

Since then, Foster has been a model prisoner, reading, writing and completing dozens of classes to prepare for his possible parole in 2036. But trouble was awaiting him when he was moved to the Telford Unit a few years ago. Telford was inexcusably understaffed, guards brought in more drugs than one could find on the streets in the “free world,” and prisoners were unsupervised and unguarded the majority of the time.