Social Problems Related to the Innocent in Prison, Racism, and Mass Incarceration

Students in Professor McCabe’s Social Problems (Socy 2) course learned first-hand about social problems related to mass incarceration, the innocent in prison, and racism through a powerful guest lecture by Fernando Bermudez and Reyna Ramirez, from the New England Innocence Project.

Fernando Bermudez was wrongfully convicted in 1992 of murdering a teenage boy in New York City’s Greenwich Village. Eyewitnesses identified Bermudez from police photographs and then a lineup; however, four of Bermudez’ friends testified that he was with them, miles away, at the time of the crime. No forensic evidence linked him to the crime. Nonetheless, Bermudez was convicted and sentenced to serve 23 years to life in prison. Later, five eyewitnesses to the alleged crime recanted and Bermudez was acquitted in 2009, after serving 18 years. Mr. Bermudez is married with three children. He now travels around the country and world talking about his experience and the broader causes of wrongful conviction.

Reyna Ramirez is a Dartmouth graduate in sociology (2010) who works for the New England Innocence Project (NEIP). As a branch of the international non-profit organization The Innocence Project, the NEIP focuses on exonerating wrongfully convicted inmates and reforming the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice.