Howell W. Woltz was born and raised in North Carolina and educated at the University of Virginia, Wake Forest University's Executive MBA program, and Caledonian University in Scotland. He was a trust and estate professional until 2006, when he was wrongly arrested by the FBI and imprisoned for seven years without ever being convicted in any court of jurisdiction. Drawing on his lifelong avocation as a journalist on Constitutional issues, his personal story, and his years working on hundreds of prisoners' legal cases, he was featured in the documentary Justice Denied and has now writes, speaks, and fights for reform in the American system of justice. His first book, Justice Denied, was praised by Kirkus as "a stirring legal drama made more thrilling by sharp journalistic prose."