The Great American Injustice

Glen Ford, innocent man released from death row after serving more than 30 years.

Does the name Glen Ford evoke any type of heartache or raw emotion? One of the most egregious yet tolerated actions taken by our justice system is that of imprisoning the innocent. Glen Ford was recently released from a Louisiana penitentiary after serving more than 30 years behind bars-most of which were spent on death row.

Ford, now 64, was on death row for the 1983 murder of Isadore Rozeman, a Shreveport jeweler and watchmaker for whom he did occasional yard work. Throughout his imprisonment, Ford always maintained his innocence. Louisiana’s motion to vacate Ford's conviction was based on new information that corroborated his claim that he was not present or involved in the crime. Prosecutors would not detail the new evidence, saying it could jeopardize their future case against the actual murderer.

In an added abominable twist, Ford's original court-appointed lawyer had never tried a murder case, and he was convicted in 1984 by an all-white jury who then went on to recommend a sentence of death. Ford is one of the longest-serving death row inmates in modern American history to be exonerated and released, The Atlantic reports.

Under Louisiana law, those who have served time but are later exonerated are entitled to receive compensation. The law calls for payments of $25,000 per year of wrongful incarceration up to a maximum of $250,000, and another $80,000 for loss of "life opportunities." The heinous implication that any amount of money is satisfactory, but especially a mere $330,000 is evidence enough that our great American justice system feels justified in placing a dollar amount on a life with dreams deferred by its own blood-stained hands.

In an article reported by BET.com, Wrongfully Incarcerated: 11 Cases You Should Know, 11 men of the possible thousands of falsely accused were highlighted including James Bain who spent 35 years in prison for the 1974 rape of a 10-year-old boy after being falsely identified by a relative of the victim. Bain was denied DNA testing multiple times. In 2001 the Innocence Project of Florida came to his assistance. He was finally freed in December 2009.

President Obama's My Brother's Keeper Initiative is a program focused on bringing companies and foundations together to help keep young men of color out of the penal system. This initiative is a start to help shield our young men from the brutal clinches of a system that has never favored people of color. If gifted with richly pigmented skin, guilty until proven innocent beyond a reasonable doubt is the cautionary tale needed to maneuver through our system of American justice.

I do not claim ownership to the above images.