Kevin Strickland Finally Freed

Several months ago, I posted an article about Kevin Strickland, an African American man who has spent 43 YEARS in prison for a murder he did NOT commit.

He is now in his sixties. He went in when he was 19 or 20.

His prosecutor, who did not have exculpatory evidence when she took him to trial but only learned of it later, had said he was factually innocent and tried for years to have him freed.

Well, finally, he walked out of prison a free man.

Missouri does not allow compensation for the wrongfully imprisoned. A GoFundMe campaign has been started for him. https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-kevin-strickland-after-wrongful-conviction

When we have harsh prison sentences like Life Without Parole or only after decades — like forty years or more — we keep some criminals off the street but when a man is wrongfully convicted, he is deprived of a meaningful life. That is the flip side to long sentences.

There needs to be a serious national conversation about the innocent people who spend decades in prison because of harsh sentencing laws. Innocent men spending decades in prison should be a rarity. Unfortunately, it is not.