Benard McKinley's remarkable journey from nearly 100 years in prison to a place at one of the US's most prestigious law schools has just taken a historic leap forward. The 39-year-old, who served over two decades behind bars for a gang-related murder committed when he was 19, is set to join the Northwestern Pritzker School of Law in Chicago this autumn.
McKinley becomes the first individual to transition directly from Northwestern University's Prison Education Program (NPEP) into any law school – including his own institution – which boasts an impressive 15% acceptance rate. The NPEP, one of a select few programmes in the US that offers incarcerated individuals a chance to earn a bachelor's degree, proved transformative for McKinley during his time at Stateville correctional centre in northern Illinois.
After being sentenced to nearly 100 years, McKinley had lost out on mainstream education, but he never gave up on his dream of attending college. While behind bars, he began studying law with the aim of appealing his sentence and helping fellow inmates with their legal issues. First earning a GED and paralegal diploma, McKinley was then accepted into the highly competitive NPEP in 2023 – one of just 40 students out of 400 applicants.
Undergoing intense study across subjects like political science and thermodynamics amidst the challenges of prison life and the Covid-19 pandemic, McKinley's experience with the NPEP allowed him to reflect on his identity and aspirations, as well as better understand societal issues like systemic racism. To secure a place at law school, he had to take the LSAT examination while still in prison, write essays by hand, and gather letters of recommendation from within the correctional facility.
A reduction in McKinley's original sentence to 25 years by the Illinois appellate court facilitated his early release into transitional housing – even as his law school application remained pending. Now, just months after leaving prison, McKinley is preparing for this significant next chapter, balancing work with visits from friends and family as he looks ahead to his studies.