William Justice and Taylor Gilliam began their friendship in 2017 as client and attorney. Since his early childhood in West Columbia, Justice had experienced several arrests and incarcerations.
In 2020, Justice was released from prison, but found himself without the means or resources to transition from life as an inmate to life as a free man.
In 2024, Justice and Gilliam shared their journey with StoryCorps, a national initiative to record and collect stories of everyday people. This excerpt was selected and produced by Linda Nunez.
TRANSCRIPT:
Justice: Well, I was born in West Columbia in 1949, and it was rough back then, but my grandfather was a bootlegger, so…
Gilliam: So, your granddad was a bootlegger? I'm learning that for the first time today.
Justice: Yeah, my granddad, he, well, he sold bonded liquor.
Gilliam: And I bet there were a whole lot of interesting stories of making those sales back then in West Columbia.
Justice: I'd be the little guy out there going down the street with a wagon full of liquor.
Gilliam: As a kid?
Justice: As a kid, yeah, because they’d never suspect me. I was making deliveries.
Gilliam: It can be unfair what various children are born into.
Justice: Yeah.
Gilliam: And things that they have no control over. It almost seems like some are destined for failure without intervention, and I don't know where that intervention is supposed to come from. Time and time again, I would have cases where a client committed a crime and I represented them on appeal, and there was really nothing I could do. And truly, to make a difference in their lives, I needed a time machine and a social worker. And we got you one of those things eventually.
Justice: Yeah.
Gilliam: Not a time Machine, but somebody we both know. And that's Kieley Sutton--
Justice: Yeah.
Gilliam: --who's a Richland county public defender and the executive director of the Rainy Day Fund, which is a local nonprofit that she created for people who otherwise fall through the cracks and they're able to step in. And when you got out, I remember you told me that the Department of Corrections just dropped you off at a bus station.
Justice: Yeah. Yeah. No money, nowhere to go, and nothing. They just dropped me off.
Gilliam: And you went to a shelter that had bedbugs, and so that ceased to be an option for you.
Justice: Yeah.
Gilliam: I was able to loop in Kieley. And she was able to get you health insurance?
Justice: Yeah.
Gilliam: Medicaid, Medicare, and a doctor's appointment?
Justice: Yeah. She lined me up with doctors.
Gilliam: So, all these entities, these organizations exist out there.
Justice: Yeah.
Gilliam: But you don't always know about them. I certainly don't know about them. But people like Kieley have a good lay of the land and knows of community partners that she can lean on when she has people like you who are in need. One thing that comes to mind is she was able to use some funds from the Rainy Day Fund to help get your eyes checked, is that right?
Justice: Yeah. So I could get my license renewed.
Gilliam: Right. Simply because your vehicle was not only your transportation, but where you would sleep every night, right?
Justice: Yeah.
Gilliam: So that the license was set, driver's license was set to expire, and it was important that you keep up with that. And the Rainy Day Fund was able to step in and cover the cost of that. It's been a joy to fight on your behalf. And I know that, win or lose, we'll continue to be friends.
Justice: I've had a lot of appellate defense lawyers, and, you showed concern, compassion. I'm just happy to have you. I'm blessed to have you.
