Assignment
Innocent people are wrongfully convicted in certain cases yet acquitted in others. A wrongful conviction is a conviction of a person accused of a crime that, as the result of a subsequent investigation, proves erroneous. Wrongfully convicted individuals are, in fact, innocent but have been falsely convicted by a jury or other court of law.
Malcolm Alexander was arrested in 1980 for a 1979 rape in which the only evidence against him was the eyewitness identification of the victim, who was attacked from behind and whose identification four months after the crime the police twice labeled as "tentative." Despite the victim's uncertain identification, the trial for Alexander was quick-it lasted one day. His trial lawyer didn't bother to give an opening statement, closing argument, or present any witnesses in his defense.
At the time, Alexander was 21 years old and the father of a two-year-old. He was then given life without parole. He advocated for his innocence while he was in prison, and, eventually, the Innocence Project picked up the case.
In 2017, the Innocence Project secured DNA testing results that excluded him as the donor of the pubic hairs that all the evidence suggests the perpetrator left in the bathroom where the victim was attacked. After 38 years in prison in Louisiana, Alexander was exonerated, thanks to the evidence found by the attorneys working on his case. He was released from prison on January 30, 2018, at the age of 59.
Source: The Innocence Project. (n.d.). Malcolm Alexander exonerated after 38 years in Louisiana's Angola prison.
Task
As a social worker working with a client like Mr. Alexander, who has been exonerated and released after years of wrongful incarceration:
1) What challenges do you foresee for your client?
2) What services will you suggest to help him reintegrate into society?
3) In your role as an advocate for social justice, what do you believe would be fair restitution for such a miscarriage of justice?
4) Using your advocacy skills, what policy intervention would you suggest to bring attention to the plight of a client that you believe has been wrongfully convicted (examples: boycott, petition, letter to a member of the United States Congress, etc.)? Explain your selection.