Iowa Civil Rights History
Discover Iowa’s role in the advancement of civil rights. Learn how landmark Iowa court cases, the Iowa Underground Railroad, Iowa towns like Buxton, and Iowa civil rights pioneers like Alexander G. Clark, Ralph Montgomery, Edna Griffin, and more guided the future of the state and the nation. We will look at how the nation’s path forward might be discovered by gleaning the wisdom of Iowa's history. For any questions or suggestions, please email Erick at iacivilrightshistorypodcast@gmail.com
Iowa Civil Rights History
The Wrongfully Convicted Man - Ken Nixon(Bonus)
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Erick Nganyange
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Season 2
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Episode 18
On September 21, 2005, the court asked a 19-yr old Kenneth Nixon if he had anything to say to the court before he was sentenced to life in prison for 2 counts of murder, 4 counts of attempted murder, and 1 count of arson. Ken told the judge and the court “your honor, you are about to sentence an innocent man to prison for the rest of his life for the crime he didn’t commit”.
The judge and the court didn’t take those words seriously, they probably heard them so many times before. Those words will come back to haunt that same judge almost 16yrs later. Because, after Ken spent 15yrs and 9 months behind prison walls, he was released after proving that he was innocent, and was telling the truth all along. Ken was released from prison on February 18th, 2021, and his convictions were vacated.
When Ken came to Iowa to talk to the Midwest innocence project, I got a chance to sit down and talk to him about his journey and what the future looks like.
For more information on Ken’s case please check out law.umich.edu
Also, Ken has an organization called “Organization of Exonerees” if you would like to support his movement,
please go to fundly.com
The judge and the court didn’t take those words seriously, they probably heard them so many times before. Those words will come back to haunt that same judge almost 16yrs later. Because, after Ken spent 15yrs and 9 months behind prison walls, he was released after proving that he was innocent, and was telling the truth all along. Ken was released from prison on February 18th, 2021, and his convictions were vacated.
When Ken came to Iowa to talk to the Midwest innocence project, I got a chance to sit down and talk to him about his journey and what the future looks like.
For more information on Ken’s case please check out law.umich.edu
Also, Ken has an organization called “Organization of Exonerees” if you would like to support his movement,
please go to fundly.com
Thank you for listening.
For any questions, suggestions, recommendations, or corrections on any historical facts; please contact
Host: Erick Nganyange
Email: iacivilrightshistorypodcast@gmail.com
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