Nation’s oldest juvenile lifer, Joe Ligon, leaves Pa. prison after 68 years
Joe Ligon, left, and his lawyer Bradley Bridge from the Defender Association of Philadelphia, arrive at Bridge's office, in Center City, Philadelphia, Feb.11, 2021.. - JESSICA GRIFFIN/The Philadelphia Inquirer/TNS

PHILADELPHIA — Leaving the State Correctional Institution Phoenix in Montgomery County on Thursday morning, his white hair peeking out below a prison-issue hat, Joe Ligon was accompanied by a dozen large file boxes. That’s about 10 more boxes than regulations normally permit. “I’m a special guy,” Ligon explained. It’s a privilege earned over 68 years, as the oldest and longest-serving juvenile lifer in the country. He’s been imprisoned since 1953, when he was just 15 years old. “I guess you accumulate a lot of stuff in 68 years,” said Bradley Bridge, a lawyer with the Defender Association of P...