They served years in prison for crimes they didn’t commit. The vast majority of them were denied compensation or help from the states that wrongfully imprisoned them. In 2003, FRONTLINE documented their struggles to resurrect their lives. (Aired 2003)
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In the 2003 documentary "Burden of Innocence," acclaimed FRONTLINE producer Ofra Bikel followed five exonerated men to learn how they had fared following their highly publicized releases from prison. The film examined the social, psychological, and economic challenges these men faced, most of them without any financial or transitional assistance from the states that imprisoned them.
In the documentary, even the lawyers who worked to champion the cases of wrongfully convicted prisoners admitted to being surprised at the difficulty their former clients encountered after being released from prison. Exonerated inmates often found themselves in dire financial situations, and many of them suffered lingering psychological effects from their incarceration.
“Burden of Innocence” was a A FRONTLINE Co-Production with Ofra Bikel Productions. It was written, produced and directed by Ofra Bikel. Jenny Carchman was the associate producer. The executive producer of FRONTLINE was David Fanning.
Explore additional reporting on "Burden of Innocence" on our website:
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/burden/
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FRONTLINE is produced at GBH in Boston and is broadcast nationwide on PBS. Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Additional support for FRONTLINE is provided by the Abrams Foundation, Park Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Heising-Simons Foundation, and the FRONTLINE Journalism Fund, with major support from Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation, and additional support from Koo and Patricia Yuen.
CHAPTERS:
00:00 – Prologue
01:11 – Cleared By DNA Evidence, Released From Prison, But No Job, No Money
19:01 – Exonerated But Often Without Compensation
32:40 – On Death Row Before Being Cleared By DNA Evidence
39:54 – A ‘Poster Child’ For the Wrongfully Convicted
53:40 – Credits