Here in New York, a court in Westchester County has exonerated a Black man nearly 48 years after he was wrongfully convicted on rape charges. Leonard Mack served more than seven years in prison after a jury found him guilty in 1975. DNA has since eliminated him as the perpetrator and identified a different man, who has confessed to the crime. The Innocence Project says it’s the longest-ever wrongful conviction to be overturned by DNA evidence. Mack was officially exonerated on Tuesday, his 72nd birthday.

Leonard Mack: “I thank God that finally the truth came out. And now I can truly say — now I can truly say that I’m free.”