Thread by @NBCNews

Black people are 7 times more likely to be wrongfully convicted of murder than whites, according to the National Registry of Exonerations. But even after exoneration, their freedom comes at a cost. #NBCNewsThreads (1/11) nbcnews.to/3Sa3b7v

Among those who have been exonerated, psychologists who treat them and lawyers who represent them say their re-emergence into the world after prison produces potentially lifelong challenges that affect them and their families. (2/11)

“You’re dropped into society so damaged that you don’t know how to fit in,” Herman Atkins, who spent 12 years in prison for a crime he did not commit, said. “That’s the part of these exonerations that people don’t realize.” (3/11)

“The reality for African Americans in this country is that you’re guilty. Period,” said Joanne Frederick, a veteran psychologist who has treated exonerated Black men. (4/11)

Atkins, who is in law school with plans to work on exoneration cases, speaks publicly across the country about the impact of wrongful incarcerations. He said the feelings that come with being released can be all-encompassing. (5/11)

S. Kent Butler, the former president of the American Counseling Association, said the lack of care for wrongfully convicted people has contributed to them being “re-traumatized” as free people and contributes to many of their failures to expand as people. (6/11)

“I call it CTSD — continuing traumatic stress disorder,” Butler said. “What typically happens is they are left hanging with how to re-enter into society and how to deal with the stigma that’s attached to that.” (7/11)

In 2002, Brian Banks was wrongfully convicted of raping a classmate. The charges were dropped in 2012, after the accuser admitted to lying. “Even after 10 years of being free, it is something that I am still constantly working on every single day,” said Banks. (8/11)

This sense of trauma funnels to the exonerated families. But eventually, even family members can move on from grief. “So when you come home, everyone’s excited to see you, but they’ve already developed this new life that doesn’t include you,” Banks added. (9/11)

Thomas Raynard James has felt it, too. He lives with his mother and craves financial stability: “You can take my life away from me, send me to these horrible prisons for 32 years, admit you made a mistake and set me free — but I can’t get compensated for all I lost?” (10/11)

“When you’re talking about exonerated people, we’re dealing with a closed-heart society. That’s wrong and just makes it harder for us,” James said. (11/11) nbcnews.com/news/nbcblk/wr…