exoneration
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After nearly three decades behind bars, Bryan Hooper Sr. walked free from a Minnesota prison Thursday — exonerated of a murder he did not commit after the witness whose testimony secured his conviction confessed to being the real killer. Hooper’s release followed a decision by State District Court Judge Marta Chou, who vacated his 1998…
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After more than three decades behind bars, 74-year-old Mary Virginia Jones has finally walked free, her wrongful conviction overturned after a long fight for justice. Jones, often affectionately called “Mother Mary” by family and friends, was convicted in 1982 in connection with the fatal shooting of two drug dealers. The tragedy that bound her to…
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From a $10 Check to a Law Degree: How Calvin Duncan Turned a Wrongful Conviction Into a Legal Legacy
When Calvin Duncan walked out of the Louisiana State Penitentiary in 2011 after nearly three decades behind bars for a crime he did not commit, the state handed him a $10 release check. That was all. No reparations. No apology beyond a judge’s words. But for Duncan, now 62, freedom was only the beginning of…
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Chris Dunn, a Missouri man who spent nearly 35 years behind bars for a murder he has always maintained he did not commit, was officially declared innocent by a judge and released from prison on July 30 of last year. Dunn’s case has become emblematic of the failures within the U.S. criminal justice system and…
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A federal judge in Philadelphia has denied President Donald J. Trump’s motion to dismiss a defamation lawsuit brought against him by the five men wrongly convicted in the notorious 1989 Central Park jogger case. U.S. District Judge Wendy Beetlestone ruled that the lawsuit filed by Yusef Salaam, Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana, and Korey…
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After spending over a decade in prison for a crime she did not commit, India Spellman walked free on February 9, 2023, becoming the first woman in more than a generation to be exonerated in Philadelphia. Her release marks yet another case of wrongful conviction fueled by coerced confessions, prosecutorial misconduct, and systemic failures in…
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A Georgia prosecutor has announced that no criminal charges will be filed against Camden County Sheriff’s Staff Sgt. Buck Aldridge in the fatal shooting of Leonard Allen Cure, a previously exonerated man, during an October 2023 traffic stop. The decision, made by Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Keith Higgins, has sparked criticism from civil rights…
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Keith Roberts, 67, is finally free after spending eight years wrongfully imprisoned for a murder he did not commit. His exoneration marks the Brooklyn District Attorney’s Office’s 40th exoneration since the inception of its Conviction Review Unit in 2014, underscoring systemic issues within the criminal justice system, particularly regarding the treatment of Black men. Roberts…
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In a case that highlights the systemic flaws of the criminal justice system, Sheldon Thomas, a man wrongfully convicted for nearly two decades, was finally exonerated in 2023 after spending over 18 years behind bars for a crime he did not commit. His conviction was based on a misidentification that stemmed from a photo of…
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The US Navy has formally exonerated 256 Black sailors who were convicted of mutiny and disobeying orders following the catastrophic explosion at Port Chicago, California, nearly 80 years ago. The explosion, which occurred during World War II, claimed 320 lives, injured 390 others, and caused extensive damage across the San Francisco Bay Area. The exoneration…
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