The most enlightening assignment I had in high school was to debate pro AND con on a topic, and my topic happened to be the death penalty. Since then, DNA testing & dedicated attorneys have freed people after years on death row. I learned about our woeful ability to identify people of another race.
I have an exonerated client who was on death row for 42 years. He will be released in less than 90 days. He went to prison at age 17 in 1971 and will be living in society again at 71. He is the most resilient and optimistic person I know. Justice delayed is infinitely better than the alternative.
Wow! I'm glad he's finally getting out, but he lost so much.
He did. And his plan is to volunteer to agencies that work with at risk youth to remind them of how much they have at stake if they make the same mistakes he did. He was in prison when he was wrongly charged with the murder of a fellow inmate. It took 42 years to overturn that charge.
Oh my god. These stories are so incredible. I absolutely bawled my eyes out listening to interviews of Anthony Ray Hinton- like you say, the ability to hold on to even some aspect of optimism or resiliency through so many years of being wrongfully locked away. I'm glad your client is free.
Far too many people are wrongfully convicted. It's too many. And those who have "committed crimes" are too often victims of disadvantage as well. Thank you for helping your client.