At a Glance
- An attorney drives to prison each weekend to visit a client she believes is innocent
- At least 3,646 people have been exonerated since 1989 after wrongful convictions
- 200 innocent individuals sentenced to death row have been exonerated since 1973
- Why it matters: The legal system’s failures cost innocent people decades of their lives
A prison visit outfit has strict rules: no underwire bras, no green clothing, high-necked shirts covering shoulders. Breaking any rule can mean denial of the visit, regardless of the long drive to remote facilities.
The journey to the prison winds through beautiful autumn landscapes, but the destination is anything but scenic. The attorney prepares emotionally while running through last-minute strategies for the visit, knowing the incarcerated individual has been imprisoned for decades for a crime he did not commit.
The Prison Visit Experience
Security screening at the prison is tedious and dehumanizing, serving as a constant reminder of who holds power. Visiting hours are limited to weekends only – Saturday or Sunday – just one day per week for people to see loved ones who may be incarcerated for years or life sentences.
The visiting room presents stark contrasts: prison weddings, lovers holding hands until guards force them apart, incarcerated parents playing with children whose childhoods they’re missing. The attorney purchases water bottles and ginger ale from vending machines, sometimes buying microwaved cheeseburgers that barely resemble food.
When the client arrives, dressed in dark green prison uniform, he grins broadly and extends his hand. Across from him sits the attorney who believes in his innocence, working to free someone wrongfully imprisoned for decades.
The Scope of Wrongful Convictions
Innocent people regularly go to prison for crimes they had no part in committing. The National Registry of Exonerations documents 3,646 people freed between 1989 and 2024 after serving sentences for crimes evidence later proved they didn’t commit. Countless others continue fighting for freedom.
The Death Penalty Information Center reports at least 200 innocent people sentenced to death row since 1973 have been exonerated. Some spent more years in prison than the attorney has been alive, nearly paying with their lives for wrongful convictions.
The Fight for Freedom
Undoing wrongful convictions requires years of arduous work. Some innocent individuals never achieve freedom, while others die from health issues that went unaddressed in prison. The attorney and colleagues engage in various investigative activities: knocking on strangers’ doors about cold cases, conducting gut-wrenching calls with innocent clients, reconciling witness statements with known facts.
The work involves determining whether people lie or memories fade, whether they protect real culprits or themselves. Anyone can become a suspect in these investigations, which feel like true crime podcasts without glitz, glamour, or happy endings for clients who’ve lost decades of life.
Fiction Meets Reality
The attorney’s first novel, The Midnight Taxi, emerged from a desire to spread awareness about innocent people in prisons nationwide. The story follows a young woman wrongly accused of murder when a passenger is found stabbed in her taxi cab, blending engaging, humorous elements with serious realities of wrongful accusations.
The novel addresses how investigations stall when someone appears guilty at arrest. Snap judgments can ruin accused individuals’ lives while delaying justice for victims and families. The crucial minutes and hours after arrest often find overworked public defenders lacking time and resources for effective defense.
Systemic Issues
Public defenders’ offices nationwide remain woefully under-resourced despite zealous advocacy and good investigations making real differences in outcomes. The novel aims to teach readers about wrongful convictions while providing an escape that shows common ground between readers and wrongfully arrested individuals.
The book serves as an ode to innocent people fighting to clear their names while incarcerated. Clients fighting for freedom against all odds have profoundly changed the attorney’s perspective, providing purpose, hope, and understanding of what truly matters.
Key Takeaways
- Wrongful convictions affect thousands, with documented exonerations representing just a fraction of actual innocent prisoners
- Prison visits highlight both the humanity of incarcerated individuals and the cruelty of the system
- Fiction can illuminate harsh realities about justice system failures
- Public defenders need more resources to prevent wrongful convictions
- Innocent people continue losing decades of life while fighting for freedom
The Midnight Taxi releases February 10 and is available for preorder now, wherever books are sold.
