After 21 Years in Prison, a Self-Taught Lawyer Proves His Own Innocence

Derrick Hamilton spent almost 21 years in prison for a murder he did not commit. While behind bars, he became a “jailhouse lawyer,” an inmate who educated himself on the law and fought to prove his own innocence, as well as the innocence of his fellow prisoners. In her article “Home Free,” New Yorker staff writer Jennifer Gonnerman profiles Hamilton and the fight that took him all the way to the Supreme Court. The article appears in the June 20th edition of the magazine.