Rubin Carter

Rubin Carter, born on May sixth, nineteen thirty-seven, was a prominent African American middleweight boxer whose life took a dramatic turn due to a wrongful conviction. In nineteen sixty-six, Carter and his co-accused, John Artis, were arrested for a triple homicide at the Lafayette Bar and Grill in Paterson, New Jersey. The incident occurred shortly after two-thirty in the morning when police stopped their vehicle while they were returning from a nearby nightclub. Initially allowed to leave, they were arrested later that night as they passed the bar again.

In nineteen sixty-seven, both men were convicted of the murders and sentenced to life in prison. Their convictions were based on questionable eyewitness testimony and prosecutorial misconduct. After spending eighteen years and four months behind bars, their sentences were overturned in nineteen eighty-five. The U.S. Supreme Court declined to retry the case, leading to their eventual release.

While incarcerated, Carter penned his autobiography, The Sixteenth Round, which was published in nineteen seventy-four. His story resonated widely, inspiring Bob Dylan's iconic song