A RECEPTION AT 6:30 PM IN THE RARE BOOK ROOM LOBBY PRECEDES THE SCREENING

After Innocence (95 minutes)

Content+Intent=Change Award, 2005 and Working Films Award, 2005: This gripping documentary  tells the dramatic and compelling story of the exonerated – innocent men wrongfully imprisoned for decades and then released after DNA evidence proved their innocence. The film focuses on the gripping story of seven men and their emotional journey back into society and efforts to rebuild their lives. Included are a police officer, an army sergeant and a young father sent to prison and even death row for decades for crimes they did not commit.The men are thrust back into society with little or no support from the system that put them behind bars. While the public views exonerations as success stories – wrongs that have been righted – After Innocence shows that the human toll of wrongful imprisonment can last far longer than the sentences served.

The film raises basic questions about human rights and society’s moral obligation to the innocent and places a spotlight on the flaws in our criminal justice system that lead to wrongful conviction of the innocent.The film will be followed by a panel featuring recent exonoree Shawn Massey and Theresa Newman, co-chair of Duke Law School’s Wrongful Convictions clinic.