- Pat Nolan smiling in front of the White House
Pat Nolan: From Federal Prison to the Oval Office
How one man’s dedication to justice reform has opened doors for millions
Flying home from Seattle to Washington, D.C., Chuck Colson quickly dictated a memo about a position he had been trying to fill for years. He had just wrapped up a Prison Fellowship® Angel Tree donor breakfast in Spokane.
“I think we found our guy,” Chuck dictated. “He’s in prison somewhere in Washington state. Track him down and see if he’s interested.”
Chuck had a hunch he had just met the future president of Justice Fellowship, a division of Prison Fellowship that was dedicated to advocating for the dignity and rights of incarcerated people.
A SPECIAL KINSHIP
Pat was serving a 33-month sentence for racketeering (for which he was later pardoned). Pat says that although his prison time was a trial, God used it for good. He served his sentence with the words of a friend echoing in his mind and shaping his choices: “For centuries, Christians have left the day-to-day world to do menial work and pray. We call this a monastery. View this as your monastic experience.”
“I went into prison believing in God, and I came out knowing Him,” Pat says.
That morning was the first time Chuck met Pat in person, but they weren’t brand-new acquaintances. In 1994, Chuck was introduced to Pat’s wife, Gail. Chuck—who had served seven months in federal prison for his role in the Watergate scandal—knew what it was like to feel cut off from the world and to have empty hours to fill. Chuck had been writing letters and sending books to Pat throughout the year before they met.
“His letters encouraged me that there is life after prison and to trust God,” Pat recalls. “Chuck said that God has a plan for me and to be open to it. And his books were terrific.”
Pat was amazed that a stranger would be so faithful to stay in touch with him throughout his incarceration. When he met Chuck in person, their connection was instantaneous. Pat, who was still incarcerated at the time, was allowed to leave prison briefly to attend the donor event, where he shared about how much Angel Tree® meant to his three small children.
“He just lit up when he met me, and it was so endearing,” Pat says. “It was like we were long-lost friends. We’d both been active in politics, him at a much higher level. We’d both been to prison. We were both people of strong faith. So there was a kinship, and it was so gratifying to me that somebody who I corresponded with would greet me so warmly and enthusiastically in person.”
UNEXPECTED COALITIONS
Pat was humbled by the suggestion that he apply for a position at Justice Fellowship—and then floored when four Prison Fellowship board members flew across the country to interview him while he was still incarcerated. But the role itself made sense. Pat—who had served in the California State Assembly for many years—was confident he could forge the bipartisan alliances necessary to accomplish meaningful justice reform.
“The job at Prison Fellowship linked together my experience as a lawyer, my leadership in the legislature, but also my time in prison,” Pat says. “This gave me a unique credibility on the subject as a former prisoner, but also as a well-known conservative leader. It gave me entrée to conservative Republicans who generally weren’t that open to criminal justice reform.”
Pat became the president of Justice Fellowship in 1996 when he was released. Immediately he started gathering what one writer called a “long list of odd bedfellows”—a coalition of leaders from both sides of the aisle who united for justice reform. The first partnership Pat facilitated was that of then-Sens. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., and John Ashcroft, R-Mo., who together opposed efforts to limit the religious freedom of incarcerated people. They were instrumental in passing the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA) in 2000, which secured the right of incarcerated people to practice their faith.
Almost immediately, Pat began working on the next piece of legislation: the Prison Rape Elimination Act. It was an issue Kennedy felt strongly about, and Pat invited then-Sen. Jeff Sessions, a Republican from Alabama, to help with the effort.
“At every step, people had said it was dead on arrival. There were attorneys general all over the country opposing it,” Pat remembers. “Only God could have brought this about. It wasn’t any skill on our part, but He touched the right number of hearts.”
The bill passed both houses unanimously in 2003—a triumph for the protection of those incarcerated. Pat still remembers Sessions’ profound words on the topic: “No sentence for a criminal, no matter how horrible the crime, includes being raped.”
‘HOPE WHEN I WAS HOPELESS’
In 2008, Pat helped build bipartisan support for the Second Chance Act, which moved correctional facilities away from mere confinement toward rehabilitation aiming to lower recidivism. It also authorized federal grants that connect returning citizens to housing and employment opportunities, as well as addiction treatment.
One day during his Justice Fellowship tenure, Pat was asked to meet with a Jewish family whose patriarch was facing a federal prison sentence. Pat recalls that the family was distraught and especially concerned that the father would not be able to keep kosher or celebrate Passover. Pat met with the man’s wife and three adult sons, opening and closing the time in prayer. He gave them advice about ensuring the father’s religious freedoms were protected, promising to advocate if necessary. Afterward, the wife told Pat how much his heartfelt prayer had meant to her. They hugged, and the sons thanked him.
Ten years later, Pat was watching the news and saw Donald Trump announce that his son-in-law Jared Kushner would be joining his presidential campaign. Pat immediately recognized Kushner as one of the young men facing his father’s incarceration so long ago.
Pat left Justice Fellowship in 2013 after 18 years of faithful service, but he continued his justice work at the American Conservative Union (ACU), where he founded what is now known as the Nolan Center for Justice. At the ACU, he began advocating for the First Step Act, a bill designed to improve prison conditions, reduce recidivism, and reform federal sentencing laws.
“I contacted Jared and said, ‘I don’t know if you remember me,’” Pat says. “He said, ‘Of course I do. You gave me hope when I was hopeless.’”
Pat then replied, “I’d like to talk to you about prison reform.”
That conversation eventually led to the passage of the First Step Act in 2018—an effort to which Prison Fellowship’s current president and CEO, Heather Rice-Minus, was integral. Pat, present at the signing, was asked to step forward to be recognized as initiator of the legislation. As he did so, he said, “This is the fulfillment of Chuck Colson’s dream that prisoners would get second chances.”
ACCOLADES AND MEMORIES
Pat speculates that he’s probably the only person with a felony record to have been present in the Oval Office for four bill-signing ceremonies. He received an award from the Vera Institute of Justice, the Justice Roundtable’s Advocate Award for his “tireless work championing criminal justice reform,” and the Architect of Justice Award from the Center for Policing Equity. Most recently, Pat was given the Charles Colson Advocate of Hope Award by Prison Fellowship in recognition of his faithful, Christ-honoring leadership in advancing proportional punishment, constructive culture in prisons, second chances, and safer communities.
Despite Pat’s many high-profile accomplishments and awards, he says that some of his best memories are of his early days at Justice Fellowship. He remembers worshipping God with his colleagues every Wednesday morning in the basement of the Prison Fellowship headquarters. He recalls staff conferences where he enjoyed connecting with coworkers from all over the country, sharing meals and building friendships. But most of all, he loved going into prison with Chuck.
“At the gate, waiting for him, were always elected officials,” Pat recalls. “Chuck would quickly brush past them and head into the auditorium or the chapel, wherever they were meeting, and begin greeting the inmates—hugging them, shaking hands, signing their Bibles. That was where he wanted to be, not with all the dignitaries. He didn’t just go in, give a speech, and leave. He was there among them, touching them as Jesus did.”
It was this kind of love for men and women behind bars that motivated Chuck and then Pat—and that still compels Prison Fellowship today.