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Volunteers Gather to Care for Glenn Ford, Exonerated Louisiana Man Who Is Now Dying from Cancer

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In Louisiana, former prosecutor Marty Stroud has met with former death row prisoner Glenn Ford to apologize to him for wrongfully charging him with murder. After 30 years in prison, Ford was released from death row last year after the state admitted new evidence proves he was not the killer. Stroud recently wrote a three-page letter in the Shreveport Times calling on the state to stop refusing to compensate Ford, who now has stage 4 lung cancer. We get an update on Ford’s case from his friend Jackie Sumell.

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This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.

AMY GOODMAN: We only have a minute, and I also want to get to Glenn Ford—

JACKIE SUMELL: Yeah, absolutely.

AMY GOODMAN: —and the work you do with him, who was sentenced to death for the murder of a man in Shreveport, Louisiana. After 30 years in prison, Ford was released from death row last year after the state admitted new evidence proves he was not the killer.

Last week, I spoke with the lead prosecutor in Ford’s murder trial, Marty Stroud, who recently wrote a three-page letter to the Shreveport Times calling on the state to stop refusing to compensate Ford, who’s now dying of stage 4 liver cancer. You’re one of his hospice partners, helping Glenn. Marty Stroud, since we talked, has gone to meet and apologize to Glenn Ford directly?

JACKIE SUMELL: Yeah. I mean, Marty Ford—Stroud, excuse me, has apologized to Glenn Ford. Whether or not that apology is anything significant after enduring 30 years of wrongful conviction on death row in solitary confinement—

AMY GOODMAN: And the state still refuses to compensate?

JACKIE SUMELL: Compensate him financially. So he’s completely underinsured. His medical care is some—a combination of volunteers, like myself, who are incredibly honored to be able to serve and work with Glenn, and then basic care from the state.

AMY GOODMAN: Well, Jackie Sumell, we will link to your exhibit at the Brooklyn Public Library that has just opened.

JACKIE SUMELL: Thank you.

AMY GOODMAN: The book has just come out again, Herman’s House. And [Nightline] is doing a special on Glenn Ford’s case tonight.

That does it for our broadcast. We’re looking to hire a social media producer. It’s a full-time job. Go to our website.

I’ll also be speaking at Colorado College Thursday, April 23rd, at 7:00 p.m. in Colorado Springs. Go to our website for more.

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