If it seems like stories of men and women being released after years behind bars for crimes they didn’t commit are becoming more commonplace, it’s because they are. According to a report from the University of Michigan, there were a record 149 exonerations in 2015. That’s about five times as many exonerated men and women as there were 20 years early in 1995. On average, those released last year had spent 14.5 years in prison.
Many assume that following the acknowledgment of such a gross error is a wave of apologies both public and private, lots of assistance to help exonerees re-acclimate to daily life, and some form of restitution. But all too often that is not the case. Few services exist to help the growing population of exonerated Americans once they are free. Instead, many are left with either the same services available to released convicts or are entirely on their own, with no guidance for finding jobs or housing, or even transportation, says Jon Eldan, the director of the After Innocence project, an organization that works to help exonerated individuals get back on their feet. And one of the things that exonerees need help with: their taxes.
[For more of this story, written by Gillian B. White, go to http://www.theatlantic.com/bus...ly-convicted/470397/]
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