wrongful imprisonment project

[IfasehunReincarnated]

‘The Hurricane' screening to benefit wrongful imprisonment project



Wednesday, July 27, 2005 6:47 PM CDT


The film The Hurricane, starring Denzel Washington, dramatizes the life of Rubin Carter, a middleweight boxer who was wrongfully convicted of murder in the 1960s.

Guy Woolfolk Trust Fund event on Aug. 4

Social Concerns is hosting a public, educational screening of The Hurricane at 7 p.m. Thursday, August 4 at the Regional Arts Commission, located at 6128 Delmar Boulevard in the U. City Loop.

The film, starring Denzel Washington, dramatizes the life of Rubin Carter, a middleweight boxer who was wrongfully convicted of murder in the 1960s. Carter was released in 1985 after nearly 20 years in prison.

Admission for the movie is free. To purchase a wine, cheese and raffle ticket package, the cost is $25 in advance, $30 at the door, and $20 for students. All of the money raised will go toward The Guy Woolfolk Trust Fund.

Woolfolk is a young African-American man serving a 25-year sentence for a charge of armed robbery. His prosecution was riddled with poor evidence and misdocumentation and has inspired a community effort to see his guilty verdict appealed.

"I know Guy is innocent - he was sitting beside me in my home at the time the crime was committed," says Rebecca Rengo-Kocher, a social worker and psychotherapist. The experience of having her testimony discounted in Woolfolk's trial compelled her to start the Guy Woolfolk Trust Fund through Social Concerns, Inc., a nonprofit organization dedicated to addressing issues surrounding wrongful imprisonment. The organization helps low-income, at-risk individuals involved in cases of wrongful conviction.

"We don't want another young life to be destroyed this way," Rengo-Kocher says.

Packages to benefit the trust fund may be purchased by calling Kim at (314) 832-2580 or Meredith at (314) 776-1622.