Exonerated death-row inmate to share story Sept. 18

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John Thompson, exonerated death-row inmate and founder and director of Resurrection After Exoneration, will visit the UT College of Law to share his story and describe his work to assist ex-offenders and individuals wrongfully convicted as they re-enter their communities.

Thompson will speak Tuesday, Sept. 18, at noon in the newly renovated Richard & Jane McQuade Law Center Auditorium.

Before DNA evidence led to his exoneration and release, Thompson served 18 years in prison — 14 of which were spent on death row, where he survived eight execution dates — for crimes that he did not commit.

When released in 2003, Thompson returned to his hometown of New Orleans to start Resurrection After Exoneration, an exoneree-run program to assist and empower individuals returning to their communities after serving prison sentences.

“This is an important opportunity for UT students and the larger Toledo community to learn about wrongful conviction issues from someone who lived through this failure in our criminal justice system,” said Jelani Jefferson Exum, UT associate professor of law. “Mr. Thompson’s extensive work to bring awareness to this problem and to help others who are trying to get back on their feet after exoneration is truly commendable, and I am glad that The University of Toledo can be a part of telling this story.”

This free, public lecture is sponsored by The University of Toledo College of Law and its Criminal Justice Society.

More information on Thompson and the Resurrection After Exoneration program is available at r-a-e.org.