Want to help exonerees and the wrongly imprisoned in Missouri? Here’s how
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Missouri exonerees
In Missouri, the wrongfully convicted receive little to no help from the state upon their release. State and local officials agree there has to be a better way.
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For Missouri exonerees, the struggle doesn’t stop at being declared innocent
When Ricky Kidd was freed from prison after serving 23 years for a crime he did not commit, he had to rely on the generosity of family friends and strangers — because the state of Missouri gave him nothing.
“No apologies, no compensation packet,” said Kidd, who has since filed a lawsuit. “It was, ‘Figure it out on your own.’”
The Miracle of Innocence, an Overland Park-based foundation, provided Kidd with a cell phone and took him shopping. The group, co-founded by exonerees Lamonte McIntyre and Darryl Burton, assisted Kidd in furnishing his apartment.
Wrongly convicted of a double murder in Kansas City, Kidd also received help from a California attorney who has now aided hundreds of exonerees with their needs upon release.
Here’s how exonerees and advocates say everyday people can help the wrongly convicted:
- Call lawmakers, local prosecutors and police departments to tell you care about wrongful convictions and ask what policies they have in place to prevent them.
- Donate to the Midwest Innocence Project, which works to free innocent prisoners in five states, including Missouri and Kansas, by calling 816-221-2166 or visiting its website at themip.org.
- Donate to the Miracle of Innocence, which provides exonerees care once they get home, by visiting its website at miracleofinnocence.kindful.com.
- Donate to online fundraisers set up by lawyers for prisoners trying to prove their proclaimed innocence or those who have been exonerated. One created for Kevin Strickland, who was freed Tuesday after Jackson County prosecutors argued he was innocent in a 1978 triple murder, raised more than $220,000, for example.
- Donate to After Innocence, a nonprofit based in California that has assisted hundreds of exonerees across the country, including at least 18 in Missouri, with re-entry services, by visiting www.after-innocence.org/donate.
