Exonerated in a Murder and Elected to Office.

(I got to meet Calvin Duncan (author of the Jailhouse Lawyer” book) at the Innocence Network Conference in Chicago).

“Calvin Duncan started learning the law as a matter of necessity, he said. He was serving a life sentence for murder and wanted to prove his innocence.

He not only regained his freedom after 28 years, but helped many other incarcerated people do the same. He graduated from law school at age 60. And last November, he was elected to the job of criminal court clerk in New Orleans, ousting an incumbent after drawing an unusual level of attention to a race that rarely attracts any.

But Mr. Duncan may never get to serve. State lawmakers in Louisiana are racing to abolish the office altogether before he assumes it on May 4. .....”

We need more people with ‘lived experience’ in office. Sunlight can help disinfect our Mass Incarceration system.