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Part Two Struggling with Life after Exoneration When we began this research in 2003, little was known about the lives exonerees led once they left prison. The issue of innocence was emerging in the national spotlight as a significant problem , mainly due to the publicized work on DNA exonerations by the Innocence Project at Cardozo Law School. Wrongful conviction cases began to receive more media attention than they had in the past, including in-depth investigative reports in newspapers and on television shows like 20/20 and 60 Minutes.1 Routinely, the attention focused on the causes of the wrongful conviction, especially the investigation and/or adjudication processes that led to an innocent person being convicted of a crime. However, this attention routinely stopped at the exoneration itself, usually on the day of the exoneree’s release from prison (with a few notable exceptions, for example, the report “What Jennifer Saw” on the case of Jennifer Thompson and Ronald Cotton).2 The lingering image was of the joyful and grateful exoneree embracing loved ones and tearfully leaving the courtroom or walking out of prison a free person. This “happy” ending left the impression that all was well, freedom was secured, life was good. The chapters in part 2 reveal the rest of the story. These chapters reveal that exonerees walk out of prison into a life fraught with challenges and difficulties, many exacerbated by the criminal justice system’s ineffective response to their exoneration and release. Chapter 4 outlines the array of short- and long-term practical problems they confront when going about the business of everyday life. From the more mundane skills of learning how to use a bank card or grocery shop to their persistent problems with unemployment and housing, exonerees explain their P S t r u g g l i n g w i t h L i f e a f t e r E x o n e r a t i o n 56 daily struggles with where and how to live and survive in a world that has, in many ways, passed them by. Chapter 5 reveals the depth of the losses the exonerees have experienced. Clearly, they feel the effects of their loss of freedom. This entire book is in many ways about the impact of that loss of freedom on their lives. But it is not the loss of freedom that most often brings them to tears; it is the loss of the loved ones they never had opportunity to grieve, the loss of time and opportunities missed, the loss of relationships they did not or could not develop, and the loss of the sense of security that most people take for granted as they go about their daily routines. Chapter 6 explores the negative impact of their wrongful conviction on family members and the challenge of remaking those relationships without the benefit of shared history or time together. Finally, chapter 7 underscores the depth of the emotional journey they begin on the day of exoneration, a journey marked by distrust, guilt, depression, and anger. The chapters in part 2 paint a picture of the reality exonerees confront after release, a picture quite different from the one we are left with on exoneration day. ...

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