Nation's Longest Serving Exonerated Inmate Freed

Stories like this one, about a Florida man who was freed today after spending 35 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, drive me crazy. James Bain was sentenced to life at the age of 19 after being convicted for the kidnapping and rape of a nine-year-old boy; DNA evidence proved that he was not involved. I cannot imagine what he endured in jail, how his family has suffered for the past three-and-a-half decades, or, really, any of it. Beyond the nightmarish aspects, it’s the small details that really stick: “The 54-year-old said he looks forward to eating fried turkey and drinking Dr. Pepper. He said he also hopes to go back to school.”