Living with Freedom

Living With Freedom is a special series that explores the lives of those wrongfully incarcerated as they rebuild life after exorneration. They were originally written for and published on MEA WorldWide.

Pregnant Maria Shepherd was imprisoned for her stepdaughter’s death, 25 years later she was found innocent

Maryland’s first exoneree Leslie Vass talks about justice, PTSD, and starting over from scratch

John Stoll served 20 years for a crime that never happened and built his life back up with just $80 in his pocket

Maurice Caldwell’s innocence was a secret everyone knew, and yet he spent 20 years behind bars

Timothy Atkins still struggles to clear his name after being wrongfully imprisoned for 23 years

Even after being proven innocent, Rafael Madrigal is still awaiting justice from the State of California

Cassandra Rivera’s wrongful incarceration stole 13 years of her children’s love from her and now she’s slowly winning it back

Elizabeth Ramirez of the San Antonio Four lost out on 17 years with her son after being wrongfully incarcerated

After 27 years of being wrongfully incarcerated on rape charges, Johnny Pinchback has finally found the life he deserves

Kristie Mayhugh, one of the San Antonio Four, is going back to vet school to pursue her dreams of helping animals

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