Four years ago this week, Dennis Halstead, John Restivo and John Kogut were cleared of a murder conviction that had kept the three men behind bars for more than 16 years. The men were convicted on New York’s Long Island after Kogut allegedly confessed following an 18-hour police interrogation. He later said the confession was coerced.

In 2003, the Innocence Project, working with pro bono attorneys from Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering and the Pace Law School Postconviction Project, obtained access to biological evidence that had not yet been tested in the case. The results proved that someone else committed the murder. The men’s convictions were overturned in 2003 and they were officially cleared in 2005.

Ten years ago this week, Clyde Charles was freed from a Louisiana prison. He had served 17 years for a rape he didn’t commit, and DNA testing obtained by the Innocence Project finally led to his exoneration. His convicted had rested in part on misleading testimony from a forensic analyst that hairs from Charles’ clothing were “similar” to the victim’s hairs. More than half of the wrongful convictions overturned through DNA testing have involved improper or unvalidated forensics like hair comparison.

Sadly, Charles died earlier this year. He was 55 years old.

By The Editors
Dear Readers,
In our first year, we have been fortunate to have attracted an all-star list of contributors whose fresh, bold, provocative insights and engaging writing have become part of our trademark.

For the holiday season, we are sharing with you some of our top stories. Those in the three Feature boxes were among the top ranked based on viewing statistics. Those in the rotation box below represent a combination of our top picks and yours from throughout the year.

With wishes for a wonderful holiday season, we invite you to read those that are new, revisit some old favorites, and have a very happy New Year!

By Lee A. Daniels
‘Tis the season for me to once again defend one of my fictional heroes—Ebenezer Scrooge, the central character of Charles Dickens’ classic morality tale, A Christmas Carol.

By Ron Walters
The recent “Statement of Conscience” declaration from 60 well-known U. S. and Latin American black activists, scholars, artists and civic leaders to the Cuban government calling for the release of an imprisoned Cuban physician and human rights activists, Dr. Darsi Ferrer, and an end to racist practices in Cuba marked the first time such concerted criticism has been leveled against the Cuban government since Fidel Castro seized power in 1959.

By Paula L. Woods
The superficial achievement for the race and Disney marketing/merchandising tie-ins will probably be enough to spell success for the film and another bite at the animated apple in years to come. Which may be, after so many years of neglect, is as good as it gets. But next time, I hope the studios dig a little deeper culturally and think a little harder about the coherence of their story and the images they convey.

By Janet Singleton
Chris Rock’s documentary Good Hair caused bad feelings last summer for many black female film-goers, who felt more betrayed than they did fairly portrayed by the film. Lost in all of the earsplitting debates and viral blog posts, was any deeper discussion of the health implications for black women and girls who use hair straightener

By C. Nicole Mason
As the old adage goes, you’re damned if you do and damned if you don’t. Over the last several weeks, President Obama seems to have gotten himself caught between a rock and a hard place with black legislators and advocacy groups.

By Eisa Nefertari Ulen
It is entirely fitting that Jabari Asim’s debut fiction, A Taste of Honey, is published in this, the year after Change. Everything is different now that the President of the United States is a black man. Everything changes in Asim’s collection of connected short stories, too—not because a leader is on the rise, but because one is shot down.

By Doug Miller
After a recent meeting with U.S. Senate majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and members of the Congressional Black Caucus, John W. Boyd, Jr., the head of the National Black Farmers Association (NBFA) said roughly 80,000 new claims have been filed under a re-energized suit to compensate black farmers for discrimination suffered at the hands of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), but funds earmarked to settle the claims apparently have been misplaced in the year-end budget shuffle.