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It doesn't happen often, but about as often as you see last night's lunar eclipse, which last occurred in the year 1638, you hear of a person who is doing something so grand, so selfless and noble, it makes you wish you were a bit more like them.
Michael Anthony Green (pictured) is that person.
Green spent 27 years in a Texas prison for a rape he didn't commit, but instead of letting his wrongful conviction and loss of his most productive years on this planet eat him up with grief and bitterness, Green has turned his energies toward helping others who may be wrongly convicted.
Green works as a volunteer for the Innocence Project, a New York–based non-profit legal center that uses DNA evidence to free the wrongly convicted. Since 2000, 261 convicted prisoners have been freed with the help of the Innocence Project.
As great as the work of the Innocence Project is, you never really hear about released prisoners returning to help others who might be wrongly convicted.
Perhaps, the trauma of being jailed for all those years is a bit too much weight to carry. Maybe others get consumed in the quest for financial compensation, after they've been released. And that makes sense to me.
Michael Anthony Green, though, volunteers for the Innocence Project, reading through piles of letters from inmates, who claim their innocence, in order to find those that might make good cases to tackle.
Green is truly doing God's work. Michael Anthony Green is my hero.
One final thought: Green's case gives us yet another example of why the death penalty should be abolished in this country.
What brand of justice would have been served if Green had been executed for his "crime" at the time of his conviction?
Watch Green's story here:
Comments: (4)
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By: tiff on 12/21/2010 12:58PM
Jesus is my hero, for he works through many.
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By: The Truth on 12/21/2010 3:41PM
Props to you Mr Green.
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By: G.P. on 12/21/2010 1:25PM
The author is incorrect in stating how rare this is. Many persons who are released after having been wrongfully convicted help either directly throught the Innocence Project or other local community outreach organization wherein they too are reaching out to former inmates (who were either rightfully or wrongfully incarcerated). What is rare is hearing from a wrongfully convicted individual project grief and bitterness.
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By: elisep on 12/23/2010 2:04AM
The man spent 27 years in prison, endured god-knows-what and he only gets 2 million?
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