i had so many thoughts leading up to this assignment as to what it was gonna be like. trying to imagine going down this road, knowing it s a one-way trap. there s this moment when you get this last glimpse of the world around you, but that glimpse is through steal match. louisiana s highway 66. it s a beautiful countryside. it s undoubtedly not lost on the countless men driven to the place where they ll most likely die. but road ends here. the louisiana state penitentiary. a former plantation the size of manhattan. 28 square miles. most people call it angola, named after the african country that was home to the slaves who once worked these very fields. now, angela is the largest maximum security prison in the country, where today, i ll be housed with about 5500 men. i m heading into ground zero of mass incarceration. there s certainly a heightened awareness as i walk through here. no guards. for the next couple days, i ll be staying here, explain key issues of the pri
$6250 for each of his 28 years behind bars. from 2016 to 2020, 374 people wrongfully convicted of murder, 61% african-americans, have reunited with their families together they spent over 6000 years in prison. years. years they will never get back. that s all for this edition of dateline. i am craig melvin. thank you for watching. i am craig melvin and this is dateline. leading up to this assign what it was going to be like. i had so many thoughts leading to this assignment as to what it would be like. trying to imagine going down isoad, knowing it s a one- way trip. this moment where you get your last glimpse of the world around you, but that glimpse is through steelman mesh. louisiana highway 66. it s beautiful countryside and undoubtedly not lost on the countless men driven to the place where they will most likely die. that road ends here. the louisiana state penitentiary, a former plantation. the size of manhattan. 28 square miles. most people call it angola named
surprise him. a three-member panel must vote unanimously to grant parole. our cameras weren t allowed inside the parole hearing room. about an hour later, estein s family walked out first. yes! [applause] we were there for his first steps as a free man in 20 years. what? should i go? man. lord, have mercy. [crying] very good, my son. two other people are eager to follow him out that gate. henry montgomery and clifford hampton, who have served a combined 116 years at angola, are about to face the parole
i m a little antsy right now. a little nervous i was up late just thinking about things, just trying to get in my mind that the possibility of me being released. you re making a way all of us here. you have made it. y all be blessed, my brothers. his 31-year-old son, a law school graduate, came to surprise him. a three-member panel must vote unanimously to grant parole. our cameras weren t allowed inside the parole hearing room. about an hour later, estein s family walked out first. yes! [applause] we were there for his first steps as a free man in 20 years.
and won, which earned him a date with the parole board. now he s just hours away. i m not a troublemaker. i have done everything possible to rehabilitate. i m a little antsy right now. i was up late just thinking about things, just trying to get in my mind that the possibility of me being released. you re making them wait for all of us here. you have made it. y all be blessed, my brothers. his 31-year-old son, a law school graduate came to surprise him. a three-member panel must vote unanimously to grant parole. our cameras weren t allowed inside the parole hearing room. about an hour later, his family walked out first.