A Calvin Prison Initiative (CPI) student, Duane Williams, was exonerated on Oct. 7 of 2024. Williams’ day of vindication came after he had been incarcerated for 11 years, seven months, and 12 days for a crime he did not commit. Upon being released, Williams began the herculean task of rebuilding a life shattered by an overzealous, corrupt prosecutorial system that, in many cases, is more concerned with conviction rates than true justice. Williams stated that prior to his erroneous conviction, he had a good family life with his wife and stepchildren. He reminisced on getting the kids ready for school, making breakfast and walking them to the bus stop. Williams smiled when he reflected on how he had become a true family man, taking family vacations and helping with homework. Once he was arrested and convicted, all of that came to a screeching halt. 

It is difficult, if not impossible, to quantify what losing close to 12 years of your life is like. All the birthdays, holidays, graduations and unfortunately funerals too, which transpired over that time period, are gone. Williams said when you are in prison, it is like you have been stolen from your family. Being subjected to strip searches, living in overcrowded facilities and eating meals that lack nutrition are all part of life in the prison system. Of all the hardships Williams was forced to endure, he stated that not being able to be with his family was the worst. He spoke to how young children do not understand what is going on, that all they know is daddy is not coming home. He recalls a particularly devastating phone call he had with his children, telling him that they would be good if only he would come home, thinking that they had done something wrong. He said that having the ones he cared for feeling as if he did not love them anymore is what hurt him the most.

While talking to his kids, Williams was cognizant of the fact most people think if you come to prison, you deserve it. But, it is common knowledge that America incarcerates more of its citizens than any other country. What is not common knowledge is that, according to the National Registry of Exonerations, there have only been 2,949 exonerations between the years 2001 and 2021. In that same time period, there have been 39 exonerations in Michigan. While these statistics are relatively small, what would be the acceptable collateral damage when it comes to destroying a person’s life?

 Thankfully, some in our society are working tirelessly to eradicate these miscarriages of justice. Programs like Western Michigan University’s Cooley Law School Innocence Project, University of Michigan Innocence Clinic and The Wayne County Conviction Integrity Unit are working inexhaustibly to change the narrative on what criminal justice reform really means. Williams said that he did not feel he had a voice or anyone believed him until he received help from the State Appellate Defender Office (SADO) and Western Michigan University’s Cooley Law School Innocence Project. Williams’ trial lawyers disregarded his pleas to introduce evidence and testimony he felt would benefit his case during trial, arguing that they had a strategy and knew what was best. In this country, there is a two-tier justice system: one for those who are high on the socioeconomic ladder and can afford competent legal representation and another for those who fall well below that financial threshold.   

Williams was subjected to the latter. The justice system did not treat Williams with justice, equality, morality or ethics. To a vast part of society these words are just abstract ideals used to give the appearance of propriety. For a large demographic, the judicial system hides behind these ideals to perpetuate a system that monetizes mass incarceration. The polarization of topics like the war in Ukraine, the conflict between Israel and Palestine or criminal justice reform are used as distractions from what we as a society need to focus on, and that is a system which treats all of its citizens equally.

After being exonerated, Williams was asked if he was bitter with the judicial system that treated him with malice and indifference, and he said, “I will not spend one more moment of my life thinking about the what ifs. My plan is to help others who have found themselves in similar circumstances. I am just one of many who languished in a prison system that is more concerned with the appearance of justice than actual justice.” Williams said he plans to work on behalf of the voiceless: “There are others just like me in prison for crimes they did not commit and the justice system needs to be held to account for these men and women whose lives are being destroyed.”