The Columbus Dispatch: UC OIP exonerees describe life, racism after wrongful exonerations

Three Black men who served a combined 76 years in prison for crimes they did not commit before they were exonerated with help from the Ohio Innocence Project (OIP) at the University of Cincinnati College of Law are featured by The Columbus Dispatch in a look at how, even when people of color reclaim their freedom, they aren’t free from the racism that awaits them.

Robert McClendon, Ricky Jackson, and Laurese Glover shared their stories with The Dispatch of being mistaken for drug dealers, told they couldn’t afford houses or cars and repeatedly pulled over by police without cause -- all after being released from prison.

“For the people of color who were wrongfully convicted, the one thing that stays the same is racism,” said Pierce Reed, the OIP's program director for policy, legislation and education. “It impacted their lives before they went into prison for crimes they did not commit, and it will impact their lives in their newly found freedom. There is no immunity from racism, even for people who have long suffered its effects.”

Read the full story here

Featured image at top: Ricky Jackson celebrates his release with UC OIP attorneys Brian Howe and Mark Godsey at the Cleveland Justice Center in 2014. Jay Yocis / UC Creative + Brand