Freed after 30 years on death row

I work at a college that does a common reading program for students. So basically, one text is selected that faculty use across disciplines in their classrooms. This year the selected text was Bryan Stevenson’s Just Mercy which exposes how unjust our criminal justice system can be – and is.

Stevenson created the Equal Justice Initiative, which “confronts racial injustice, advocates for equality, and creates hope for marginalized communities” (https://www.eji.org/). His memoir chronicles the case of Walter McMillian, an African American who was wrongly convicted and sentenced to death row for a crime he didn’t commit, as well as the stories of other vulnerable populations (i.e. juveniles tried as adults, mothers of lower socio-economic class, etc.)

One of the cases Stevenson mentions in his text is that of Anthony Ray Hinton who spent thirty years on death row before being exonerated 2 years ago after ballistic evidence used to convict him of capital murder decades ago proved faulty.

I had the pleasure of dining with Hinton last week at Edwin’s restaurant, an “organization that gives formerly incarcerated adults a foundation in the hospitality industry while providing a support network necessary for long-term success” (https://edwinsrestaurant.org/about-us/). He was in town to share his story, and a message with Cuyahoga Community College students, reminding all of us for the need to both fight and to forgive.

As students, faculty, and staff settled into the auditorium at Tri-C’s eastern campus, the lights dimmed, and Grammy nominated Andra Day’s video “Strange Fruit” lit up the projection screen. Stevenson eloquently states the ability music has to seep into our souls in an interview with Billboard: “In this collaboration between Andra Day and Google, we use music to express a painful and difficult truth in our nation’s history of racial inequality. Inspired music has the power to expose and confront injustice differently than data and words alone. It can heal and uplift us; it’s crucial for human rights. Justice work needs a soundtrack that inspires the struggle” (https://eji.org/videos/andra-day-strange-fruit).

Now it was time for Hinton who had been sitting on the stage, closed eyes, bobbing head as the music streamed through the speakers, to speak. And speak he did; Hinton gave a moving account of how he was handcuffed, arrested, and transported to the police station one hot July day while sipping lemonade and mowing the grass. He recounts how he asked several times what he was being charged with on the way to the station. And he recounts finally getting an answer – robbery. Stunned he pleaded his innocence only be told by one of the arresting officers, “I don’t care whether you did or didn’t do it. But I’mma make sure you’ll be found guilty of it.” When Hinton’s alibi checked out, the state simply threw new charges his way – this time two counts of first-degree murder, of which, Hinton was, in fact, found guilty.

Hinton went on to explain the ups and downs of his case as well as what it was like to be in prison – how he refused to speak for three years upon entering, and only broke his silence to comfort another man crying in an adjacent cell. He spoke about the struggles of adapting to a free world that has changed so much since the time he was removed from it in 1985. The technological knowledge and skill set needed for most gainful employment today is one of the obstacles Hinton now faces; shockingly Hinton did not receive any compensation for the time he spent behind bars. Nor did he ever get an apology. No sorry. No mi culpa. Nada.

Those who are guilty for putting him on death row, and for denying him the just compensation he so badly deserves should submit themselves to the test he posed to faculty, staff, and students during his talk: to go home and sit in a bathroom for 30 minutes with no laptop, phone, books, music, etc. He then asked us to imagine that 30 minutes extending to 30 years. I know I couldn’t last three minutes let alone thirty. I wonder if those involved in the real ‘robbery’ – that of Hinton’s freedom - had submitted themselves to his challenge apologies would be extended, checks would be written, and forgiveness would be begged.