Shujaa
Graham
SAN JOAQUIN
COUNTY, CA
11 YEARS IN PRISON,
5 OF THEM ON DEATH ROW;
EXONERATED IN 1981
Graham, right, 69,
with his son, Jabari,
showing off a tattoo
of his father, was a
troubled teen who
spent part of his ado-
lescence in juvenile
detention facilities.
He was already in adult
prison when convicted
of killing a prison
guard in Stockton,
California, in 1973. The
state supreme court
overturned his convic-
tion in 1979 after it was
revealed that prosecu-
tors had systematically
excluded Black jurors.
In a 1981 retrial, he was
exonerated. Today
he is an avid speaker
on death penalty and
racial justice issues.