35 Years of Lost Time

I read a really interesting article the other day about James Bain, a man who was exonerated earlier this week after serving 35 years in jail for a crime he didn't commit. In 1974, when he was 19 years old (pictured left), Bain was arrested for kidnapping and raping a 9-year old boy. Regardless of his confirmed alibi, Bain was sentenced to life in jail. But thanks to new DNA-testing techniques, it was recently determined that Bain could not have commited the crime.

How could the court have made this mistake? Rationally, I understand that mistakes happen, but isn't the point of the justice system to prevent things like this from happening? It made me kind of mad to think that this man wasted so much of his rightful life behind bars. But my own feelings aside, what surprises me is that Bain is not bitter. Not in the least bit. "No, I'm not angry," he said. "Because I've got God." He has decided not to dwell on the past, but instead embrace what his future holds- a future that until recently held nothing- understanding that being angry would only result in more time being lost.

On the bright side, one good thing for Bain is that he is entitled to $1.75 million. A few years ago, Florida passed a law that entitles inmates found innocent to $50,000 per year they spent in prison. Do you think this is proper compensation for 35 years behind bars? How do you compensate for taking away something away that can never be returned, that you can never get back?

Photo courtesy of CNN Justice