In the United States today, over 400 wrongly convicted, incarcerated, and exonerated people - exonerees - are trying to put their lives back together. 

Exoneration has become much more common than it was a generation ago. Since the death penalty was reinstated in the 1970s, 139 people have been exonerated from death rows in 25 states; this is roughly one exoneree for every eight people executed.

This increase in exoneration is due in large part to forensic DNA testing, which was first introduced into a U.S. court in 1986 and has since been refined greatly, so that results can be obtained in cases where earlier testing was inconclusive. DNA exonerations have proven to the public that innocent people do get convicted, frequently because of false eyewitness statements, incompetent defense attorneys, false confessions, snitch testimony, and prosecutorial misconduct.

 For nearly twenty years, Louisiana has had one of the highest per capita exoneration rates. This state's justice system has compromised over two dozen lives, taking away some exonerees' freedom for as many as 37 years. Since 1990, at least 26 innocent men have been released from prison after their convictions were thrown out. Their releases entail the following:

• Exonerated inmates typically roll out of Louisiana prisons like everyone else; they get a bag of possessions and $10 from the state Department of Public Safety and Corrections.

• Often, despite the time they've served, their skills have not improved because unlike inmates with preset release dates, inmates facing death or serving life without parole often aren't allowed job training, literacy classes, or GED preparation.

• Until exonerees complete the state's lengthy pardon process, their convictions show up when potential employers, landlords, or creditors do criminal background checks.

• Most exonerees have no health insurance, which allows them no way to remedy the psychological and physical toll of Louisiana's prison system.

• Some exonerees, if they get a bus fare on their release, take a bus to what once was home. But when they get there, no one is waiting. Often, exonerees have lost all of their possessions, their housing, and their loved ones. Their children have been raised without them; their parents have often died.

• Putting lives back together is slow, and exonerees are on their own.

A study by the Berkeley, California-based Life After Exoneration Program found that after their release:

• Half of exonerees are living with family

• 2 in 3 are not financially independent

• 1 in 3 lose custody of their children

• 1 out of 4 suffer from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder

All formerly incarcerated people face similar barriers. Most of the world treats exonerees like anyone else with a criminal record:

• Both groups are chronically underemployed.

• Both groups have difficulty accessing routine government services.

• Both groups are routinely denied the right to vote, live in public housing, get food stamps, or access college loans.

After struggling to survive in prison, exonerees must struggle to live on the outside. They are routinely harassed by law enforcement officials; they are regularly denied employment; they are stigmatized as formerly incarcerated individuals; many have lost parents and partners, and most are deprived of seeing their children grow up. Back on the outside, they are denied the ability to work to survive, live a law-abiding life, and successfully care for their families.