Condemned Without Cause: Autism, Injustice, and 75 Years Behind Bars - Paperback

by Patricia Borden (Author)

Condemned Without Cause, is Patricia Borden's account of her twenty-year fight to bring her son Stephen home from a 75-year prison sentence. Stephen May is autistic. As a toddler he was diagnosed with ataxia, a neurological condition that affects his gait and coordination. With no prior criminal record, in 2007 a jury witnessed his disability and called it guilt, convicting him under an Arizona statute that was later ruled unconstitutional. The law has since been thrown out, but Stephen remains behind bars, as Mrs. Borden continues to believe that justice will prevail. Senior U.S. District Judge Frederic Block, who presided over Stephen's federal habeas case, was so moved by the injustice that he dedicated his 2024 book, A Second Chance, to Stephen by name.