Is North Carolina losing interest in racial justice and equity?
Jurors in Raleigh, North Carolina, awarded $75 million Friday to two half brothers exonerated in the rape and murder of an 11-year-old girl after DNA evidence pointed to a convicted murderer as the perpetrator. The brothers, Henry McCollum and Leon Brown, had spent nearly 31 years in prison. Jurors awarded each man $1 million for each year they spent in prison against two agents with the State Bureau of Investigation and $13 million in punitive damages. They will get an additional $9 million as a result of a settlement Friday with the Robeson County sheriffs office. The brothers were represented by a legal team led by lawyers from Hogan Lovells. The lawyers had contended that the half brothers confessions were coerced, and evidence in their case was suppressed and fabricated. (The News & Observer via the Marshall Project)