Anthony Ray Hinton

Anthony Ray Hinton was poor and black when he was convicted in 1985 of two murders he hadn’t committed. He spent the next 30 years trapped in solitary confinement in a tiny cell on death row, having to watch as one-by-one – his fellow prisoners were taken past him to the execution room.  Anthony says: "I was 29 and mowing the lawn at my mother’s house in Birmingham, Alabama, on a hot day in July 1985 when I looked up and saw two police officers. When my mom saw the handcuffs, she screamed. They asked me whether I owned a firearm, and I said no. They asked if my mother owned one, and I said yes. I asked the detective 50 times why I was being arrested. Eventually, he told me I was being arrested for a robbery. I told him, “You have the wrong man.” He said, “I don’t care whether you did it or not. You will be convicted.”

Anthony Ray Hinton Exonerated After 30 Years on Death Row

Anthony Ray Hinton walked out of the Jefferson County Jail a free man for the first time in 30 years at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, April 3, 2015. "The sun does shine," Mr. Hinton said moments after being released following his exoneration. He was sentenced to death for a crime he did not commit.
“Race, poverty, inadequate legal assistance, and prosecutorial indifference to innocence conspired to create a textbook example of injustice,” EJI Director Bryan Stevenson said.
“I can’t think of a case that more urgently dramatizes the need for reform than what has happened to Anthony Ray Hinton.”
For more information, visit: https://eji.org/cases/anthony-ray-hin... Extended version: https://youtu.be/KLbeZRiMLC0
The Equal Justice Initiative works to end mass incarceration, excessive punishment, and racial inequality. Visit our website to learn more: https://eji.org

The Sun Does Shine

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