James Bain received a life sentence in prison at the age of 19 for the kidnapping and rape of a nine year old boy. 35 years later, he is released when DNA evidence reveals that he was not the perpetrator of the crime. His statement to reporters upon his release? “I’m not angry”.

Probably the most productive and rich part of his life was snatched away from him and he was allowed to rot in prison for 35 years for a crime he did not commit, and he’s not angry? I can’t imagine ever being so at peace with myself and God that I wouldn’t curse the world and everything in it for the rest of my days.

Of the 245 people in the United States whom DNA testing has exonerated, none has spent more time behind bars than Bain, according to the Innocence Project, a national organization dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted people through such testing.

The man sent four handwritten motions for an appeal, all denied, before he was given a new hearing after his fifth motion.

There isn’t a check big enough that could give this man back what the justice system stole away from him.