Ronnie Long was convicted by an all-white jury in North Carolina on Oct. 1, 1976, after he was accused of raping a white woman in Concord.

A Black North Carolina man who spent 44 years in prison after he was wrongfully convicted of raping a prominent white woman has been awarded a historic $25 million settlement more than three years after he was exonerated.

Ronnie Long, 68, settled his civil lawsuit with the city of Concord, about 25 miles northeast of Charlotte, for $22 million, the city said in a news release Tuesday. The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation had previously settled for $3 million, according to Duke Law School’s Wrongful Convictions Clinic.

The clinic, which represented Long, said the settlement is the second largest wrongful conviction settlement recorded.

“It’s, obviously, a celebratory day today knowing that Ronnie’s going to have his means met for the rest of his life with this settlement. It’s been a long road to get to this point so that’s a great outcome,” clinical professor Jamie Lau, Long’s criminal attorney, said in a phone interview Tuesday.

  • nucleative@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Like having a 44 year career that feels like prison then you retire with $25 mil. Enough to do some wild things but your family and friends are long gone.

    Not unlike a lot of people who give their time to a career in the same way.

    • ExLisper@linux.community
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      1 year ago

      Except you get a pretty shitty work-life balance during your whole career. You know many careers that give you 0 hours of life over 44 years?

      • Geobloke@lemmy.world
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        1 year ago

        Exactly he never got Christmas with his family, no holidays at the beach and no change to grow old with his loved ones

        • Flying Squid@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          And, you know, he had to live in an uncomfortable tiny cell with very little stimulation the whole time.

      • unrelatedkeg@lemmy.sdf.org
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        1 year ago

        There might be a few, but you’re always free to change your career if you want. You’re very much not free to just leave peison.