Michael Williams missed four presidential administrations, the end of the Cold War and Sept. 11. For 24 years, the world went on around him while he sat in a cell at Angola State Penitentiary.

But Williams is not a typical inmate; he did not commit the rape that took away more than half of his life. After a two-year court battle that resulted in DNA evidence proving he was not the rapist, Williams was exonerated by the state and set free with ten dollars to his name.

Williams’ case is not unique. As of March 16, 157 people have been set free based on DNA evidence, according to the Innocence Project’s Web site. Fourteen of these people were on death row and slated to be executed. The project was founded in New York to provide free legal help to inmates whose sentences could be overturned based on DNA evidence. The students who serve as lawyers on the project took Williams’ case in 2003, more than five years after he first contacted them.

This issue highlights serious problems with our legal system, especially since the vast majority of those exonerated are poor men of color who did not have access to adequate counsel at their first trial. The 157 people profiled on the Innocence Project’s Web site have served a total of 2,029 years in prison.

Law enforcement and prosecutors have argued that because the criminal system is so overloaded it is impossible to completely ascertain guilt in any trial. In Williams’ case, the victim called her father immediately after the attack and identified Williams as the rapist. The two had conflicted earlier when the victim was serving as Williams’ tutor. Despite the lack of other evidence, the woman’s eyewitness account was enough to convict Williams.

Now he, like other inmates, has been given a $10 check. Williams’ friends and family worry about his future. Convicted and sentenced at age 16, he has never been a free adult and has no job training or vocational skills. Although his family believed in his innocence, no one had visited him at Angola for the previous seven years. The Innocence Project held a fundraiser to help him restart his life, so he will not be out on the streets, but some say it’s not enough.

Bills that require financial restitution to falsely convicted inmates have failed five times in Baton Rouge, although other states award between $10,000 and $500,000. Proponents of exonerated inmates continue to write bills in the hopes that legislators will eventually soften.

But for his part, Williams is just happy to be free, according to a Times-Picayune article. As he walked out of the prison that had held him for more than half of his life, Williams smiled and thanked God.