Court Awards $1Million To Ricky Jackson For Spending 40 Years In Jail

An African American man who spent nearly
40 years behind bars in the US state of
Ohio for a murder he did not commit will
receive $1 million from the state for his
wrongful imprisonment.
On Thursday, an Ohio Court of Claims judge
ordered that just more than $1 million be
paid to Ricky Jackson.
Jackson said he learnt about the payment
from a reporter who had called him on
Thursday afternoon to get his reaction over
the court order.
“Wow, I didn’t know that,” Jackson said.
“Wow wow wow, that’s fantastic, man. I
don’t even know what to say. This is going
to mean so much.”
Michele Berry, his attorney from the
Innocence Project, said a financial advisor
will help Jackson to handle the money in
the wisest way.
After hearing the news of the court order,
Berry became emotional and expressed her
appreciation for all that the innocent black
man went through.
“It’s been an honor to work for and with
Ricky,” she said. “He’s probably the wisest
person I’ve ever met.”
In November, Jackson, 57, and Wiley
Bridgeman, 60, were both exonerated in a
1975 murder after a key witness against
them, who was 13 years old at the time,
admitted in 2013 that he lied during his
testimony.
Eddie Vernon, now 53, told a minister who
visited him at a hospital in 2013 that he
had never actually witnessed the crime. He
said Cleveland police detectives coerced him
into testifying that the men killed
businessman Harry Franks on May 19, 1975.
The Ohio Innocence Project, which took up
their case, said Jackson and Bridgeman’s 39
years imprisonment mark them as the
longest-serving exonerees in US history.
According to a study released in April, one
in every 25 death row inmates in the United
States is innocent. Approximately 3,000 US
prisoners are waiting to be put to death.
African Americans are also far more likely to
be arrested and imprisoned by police than
any other racial group, according to a
recent analysis by USA TODAY.
Experts say the dramatic gap in arrest and
prison rates reflects biased policing as well
as the vast economic and educational
inequalities that plague much of the US.