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Source:
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In
1976,
Ronnie
Long
of
Concord,
North
Carolina
was
convicted
of
raping
a
white
woman
and
was
sentenced
to
serve
80
years
in
prison
at
the
age
of
21.
After
forty-four
years,
Duke
Wrongful
Convictions
Clinic
discovered
that
not
only
did
Ronnie
not
commit
the
heinous
crime,
but
also
that
the
police
department
was
actively
tampering
with
evidence
and
the
jury
pool
to
ensure
that
he
was
found
guilty.
Somehow,
people
still
criticize
us
for
saying,
“F***k
the
police.”
Back
in
December
2020,
North
Carolina
Governor
Roy
Cooper
officially
pardoned
Long
and
the
state
promptly
sent
him
a
$750,000
cash
mea
culpa.
We
did
the
quick
math
and
that
lump
sum
averages
out
to
$17,045.45
per
year.
The
U.S.
Health
and
Human
Services
Department
maintains
that
earning
less
than
$30,000
per
year
qualifies
a
person
as
impoverished.
That’s
what
Ronnie
Long’s
life
was
worth
to
the
state
of
North
Carolina
and
he
was
disgusted
at
the
thought…
Now
according
to
WCNC,
Ronnie
Long
is
no
longer
impoverished
but
he
damn
sure
has
not
been
made
whole.
Following
the
“Ok,
take
this
lil’
money
and
STFU’
move
that
the
state
pulled,
Ronnie
and
his
lawyers
filed
a
civil
lawsuit
against
the
city
and
all
the
officers
involved
with
the
campaign
against
him
and
he
was
recently
“awarded”
a
$25
million
settlement,
the
biggest
in
North
Carolina
history.
The
city
of
Concord
will
pay
out
$22
million
while
the
State
Bureau
of
Investigation
will
pay
the
other
$3
million.
It’s
still
nowhere
near
enough
to
compensate
this
man
for
his
loss
of
life.
As
far
as
we’re
concerned,
that
$750,000
was
spitting
in
his
face
and
anything
less
than
$100
million
is
a
slap
in
his
face.
Long’s
lawyer,
Jamie
Lau,
praised
the
city
for
their
decision.
“Here,
the
city
of
Concord
really
owned
up
to
the
past
misdeeds
of
city
employees
which
is
really
remarkable,”
Lau
said.
“I
don’t
know
of
any
other
case
where
a
municipality
has
issued
such
an
apology
as
part
of
a
civil
settlement.”
Making
history
for
a
settlement
doesn’t
impress
us.
The
city
and
state
stole
FORTY-FOUR
YEARS
of
this
man’s
life.
Truthfully,
no
number
can
satisfy
a
wrong
of
that
magnitude
but
they
damn
sure
could
have
tried
harder
than
$25
million.
