Listen Together

Listen Together Materials

• Christopher Scott’s experience on Live at The Moth “Everything’s Bigger in Texas”
• Christopher Scott’s website

Christopher Scott, a Dallas native, was wrongfully convicted of capital murder in 1997 after unintentionally showing up at a crime scene and being incorrectly profiled as the culprit. Imprisoned at age 27, Scott served 13 years in prison, separated from his girlfriend and unable to watch his two young sons grow up. While in prison, Scott heard many stories from other inmates who were also wrongfully convicted. He determined that if released, he would do whatever possible to help fix a system which had irreparably damaged his and countless other lives.

In 2009, two years after his exoneration, Scott started The House of Renewed Hope. This non-profit organization seeks to exonerate wrongfully convicted prisoners. The House of Renewed Hope works on individual cases of wrongful conviction in addition to advocating for legislative changes in the criminal justice system, seeking reform and justice for Americans who have been wrongfully imprisoned. Along with Christopher Scott, two other wrongfully convicted exonerees, Johnnie Lindsey and Steven Phillips, serve as head investigators for the organization. The three men have served a combined sixty years in prison for crimes that they did not commit. Though they lack formal investigative training or access to DNA evidence, the men turn to their experience as wrongfully convicted prisoners and their passion for justice to deliver freedom to others in such situations.

In 2018, director Jamie Meltzer released True Conviction, an emotional documentary which tells the story of Scott, Lindsey, and Phillips and their unlikely detective agency. In addition to telling the story of The House of Renewed Hope, the documentary emphasizes the issues and challenges plaguing the American justice system. True Conviction was praised by critics and audiences alike who resonated with the heroic story of The House of Renewed Hope and with Scott’s declaration that “my whole mission is to free as many people as I can before I leave this world.”

Scott, still a Texas resident and now a grandfather, also started a men’s clothing business upon his exoneration, using the money given to him by the state to pursue his lifelong love for men’s fashion. While he can never regain the time spent in prison, critical years in his sons’ lives and for the development of a career, Scott has made it his life mission to make his life worth living and to save others from prison time for crimes that they did not commit. He has grown to be one of the nation’s most prominent faces of wrongful conviction, using his platform and experience to bring justice to the wrongfully accused.

Interviews

• https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2020/0214/Innocence-detectives-The-exonerated-men-who-now-work-to-free-others (2020, interview with Scott and Phillips)
• https://localprofile.com/2019/09/14/dallas-exoneree-chris-scott-renewed-hope/ (2019 interview about 10 years of freedom)
• https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/dallas-man-wrongfully-convicted-of-murder-now-helps-others-seeking-freedom/2529/ (2019 short NBC interview)
• https://www.texasmonthly.com/the-culture/the-exonerated-true-conviction/ (2018 interview discussing the film and criminal justice)
• https://www.npr.org/2018/04/30/606990256/true-conviction-chris-scott-served-time-for-a-crime-he-didnt-commit (2018, conversation between Christopher Scott and Alonzo Hardy, the man for whose crime he was wrongfully convicted)
• https://people.com/crime/texas-enonerees-fight-wrongfully-convicted-prisoners/ (2018, article about House of Renewed Hope)
• https://www.star-telegram.com/entertainment/tv/article209693794.html (2018, article about Scott’s story, mission, and the documentary)
• https://www.kut.org/post/texas-prison-exoneree-fighting-free-other-innocent-inmates (2018, kut interview)
• https://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/death-of-wrongfully-convicted-dallas-man-prompts-calls-for-improved-health-care/261453/ (2018, Scott calls for better health care following co founder Johnnie Lindsey’s death from lung cancer)
• https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/christopher-scott-spent-13-years-in-a-texas-prison-for-a-crime-he-didnt-commit/LYBVQAMI66MM6Y7KJNYGPBRBEA/ (2017, Scott’s story with an emphasis on Alonzo Hardy)
• https://www.dallasnews.com/news/politics/2017/10/23/rebuilding-after-prison-texas-has-spent-109-million-on-the-wrongfully-convicted/ (2017, Scott speaks on the cost to Texas of the wrongfully convicted)
• https://innocenceproject.org/interview-with-texas-exoneree-christopher-scott-i-kept-hope-alive-that-one-day-i-was-going-to-be-free/ (2015 interview telling his story)

Videos

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ka8LnR5M2kg&feature=emb_logo (2013, Scott tells his story to WUNC)
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z73QAJ0Q-x8 (2018, interview in which Scott talks about life in prison and wrongful conviction)
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6_UuV0ES5o (2017, Scott tells his story to the Texas Tribune)
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6-CmepgIgM (shows Scott with Lindsey and Phillips and then talking to Hardy)
• https://www.pbs.org/video/true-conviction-lnlrn0/ (clip from True Conviction)

Audio/Radio Interviews

• https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justice/2020/0810/Why-Black-and-white-Americans-see-the-justice-system-differently-audio (2020, discusses racism in the justice system and interviews Scott)
• http://www.blacktalkradionetwork.com/2018/05/23/new-abolitionists-radio-renewing-hope-for-the-enslaved-through-slavery-abolition/ (2018 interview with The New Abolitionists)
• https://think.kera.org/2018/04/30/exonerated-and-motivated/ (2018 interview about Scott’s path since exoneration)
• https://www.keranews.org/government/2018-12-11/race-and-incarceration-a-stark-reality (2018 short interview discussing race and incarceration)
• https://beta.prx.org/stories/326137 (2015 podcast episode)

Articles about Scott

• https://portal.clubrunner.ca/2429/Speakers/f041d9cd-fa53-46d0-be2c-2cc361bc25c7 (2014, describing Scott’s experience and announcing him to be Texan of the Year)
• https://www.latimes.com/travel/cruises/la-na-exonerees-christopher-scott-pictures-photogallery.html (LA Times photostory following Scott going about his day-to-day activities and explaining his story in captions)
• http://www.humanrightsdallasmaps.com/items/show/24 (Human rights organization based in Dallas, essay on Scott’s story)
• https://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/17/us/life-after-exoneration-building-a-business-and-helping-others.html (2013 article about Scott’s release and how he opened a clothing store)

Articles Written By Scott

• https://www.texasobserver.org/exoneree-confronts-man-sent-to-prison/ (2014, Scott writes about meeting Alonzo Hardy)

Citation:

Scott, Chris. “I Confronted the Man Whose Crime Sent Me to Prison.” The Texas Observer, 20 Apr. 2019, www.texasobserver.org/exoneree-confronts-man-sent-to-prison/.

Information about True Conviction

• https://www.pbs.org/independentlens/films/true-conviction/ (summary of the film written by Meltzer)
• https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5118014/ (imdb profile)
• https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/true-conviction-review-995731 (Hollywood Reporter movie review)

Other Information

• https://twitter.com/HRenewedHope?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor (Scott’s twitter profile)
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/christopher-scott-9a966067/ (Scott’s LinkedIn profile)