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.

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.

    • Ignisnex@lemmy.worldEnglish
      121·
      11 months ago

      So, I get where you’re coming from here, but $25 million is still an enormous amount of money objectively. Obviously there isn’t really a way to convert 44 years of incarceration into an equivalent financial denomination, but if we think about earnings that could be had in that time, $25 million by far covers it.

      If this guy were to have a job paying $100k a year for his whole life, he’d be making well in excess of the average, and still only have about $6 million total earnings by the time they retire. Let’s double it and assume he was making $200k a year for his entire working life, that’s still only half the amount he was awarded. So this amount paid could be said to cover a lifetime of high pay, plus an equivalent amount in damages, plus a little extra on top for good measure.

      • fidodo@lemmy.world
        16·
        11 months ago

        It’s proportionally correct. I bet lots of people would agree to a year in prison for half a million, but there’s simply no amount that would compensate for half your life in prison. At least this is enough for him to spend the rest of his life doing whatever he wants.

        • ipkpjersi@lemmy.ml
          1·
          11 months ago

          I would agree to it with the caveat that it wouldn’t be on my record. Otherwise, it would likely affect potential future earnings.

          It’s true, this is quite a lot of money for him to retire with now. Nothing makes up for the lost time but all he can do now is make the best of this and try to enjoy his remaining life.

          • fidodo@lemmy.world
            2·
            11 months ago

            In this comparison it wouldn’t be on your record since this guy was innocent and exonerated so matching the situation you’d be clean too

        • Ignisnex@lemmy.worldEnglish
          2·
          11 months ago

          Of course, hence why I said that it’s not possible to convert incarceration time into money. Removing agency is to remove possibility to proceed however one sees fit. Likely he would have been financially poorer off, but life isn’t a measure of worth by dollars. Only the most degenerate among us think that bigger numbers in various accounts equates to a good life.