Rickey Jackson is the embodiment of resilience. “It was important for me to...try to maintain the sense of the person I was on day one when I first got arrested.” His contributions during years incarcerated exemplified this: Rickey became an avid reader, mentored young inmates, earned his horticulturist license and taught First Aid classes. He refused to let lost time be a lost opportunity.

Rickey maintained his innocence during his years of incarceration, eventually securing representation through the Ohio Innocence Project. A chance recantation led to Rickey’s exoneration and release, but chance should not have been his only hope. While studies estimate that 4.1% of all death-sentenced inmates are innocent, between 1973 and 2016, only 1.6% of individuals sentenced to death were exonerated.

Despite scientific advancements that help defendants prove their innocence categorically, systemic issues like racial profiling, wealth inequality and deficiencies in police training continue to prevent justice for people like Rickey. For example, African-Americans account for 13% of the U.S. population, but make up 34% of the 6.8 million correctional population and 42% percent of those on death row.

Rickey seized his opportunity to build a new life. His settlement from the state of Ohio provided one form of stability, but he also found love, got married, started a business, and helps raise three step-children.