After Innocence

On the upside
There is cause for optimism too, in the form of the Innocence Network. This is rapidly turning into a new civil rights movement: a growing nationwide network of lawyers and students dedicated to helping release innocent men – and coincidentally giving focus to the lives of the men who have been set free in giving them something to campaign for.

And as the programme shows, it's a campaign well worth fighting. There are still thousands of innocent men behind bars and no one is making it easy for them to regain their freedom. One of the most shocking story strands concerns the case of Wilton Dredge, whose release from prison in Florida was delayed for three years after, as his lawyer puts it, he was "demonstrably innocent". It's maddening and frustrating to see him caught in a system designed, as another ex-internee says "to break you", but consequently all the more delightful to see the eventual outcome.

There's no guarantee of a happy ending, but at least there's hope that sometimes, justice will be done.

Feature for More4 by Sam Jordison

Related links
www.innocencenetwork.org.uk/