In 1987, Ben Spencer was wrongfully arrested for the murder of a prominent Dallas businessman. Newly married and with his first child on the way, Ben was convicted and sentenced to life in prison, despite having an alibi and no physical evidence tying him to the crime. He maintained his innocence. In 2000, Centurion Ministries, a nonprofit organization that reinvestigates dubious convictions, took Ben’s case. An exhaustive investigation brought to light false witness testimony and a more likely suspect that the police ignored. A Dallas judge declared him innocent in 2008, but the Texas high court disagreed, ruling that Ben would spend his life in prison.

Barb Bradley Hagerty encountered Ben’s case in 2017 while writing a piece for The Atlantic and NPR. She continued to investigate Ben’s story, and her 2024 book, Bringing Ben Home: A Murder, a Conviction, and the Fight to Redeem American Justice chronicles Ben’s journey through the American justice system – and the larger legal tragedy: Namely, it is easy to convict an innocent person and nearly impossible to undo the mistake.

Ben and Barbara will share this story as well as the larger story of the American justice system, and the injustices that are far too common. This conversation will be moderated by Steve Drummond.

Ben Spencer spent 34 years in prison before he was released in 2021. During his decades of incarceration, Ben was sustained by his faith and the unwavering support of his family. In August 2024, because of the work of five people – a minister, two lawyers, a private investigator and a journalist — Ben was fully exonerated. Since his release, Ben has returned to work and focused on reconnecting with his family. Ben takes every opportunity to share his story with the hope of inspiring others to redeem the broken system.

Barbara Bradley Hagerty is an award-winning journalist and New York Times bestselling author. A longtime NPR correspondent covering law and religion, she now writes for The Atlantic. She has received the American Women in Radio and Television Award (twice); her reporting was part of the NPR coverage that earned the network the 2001 George Foster Peabody and Overseas Press Club awards after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

Steve Drummond is an author, educator and, for more than 20 years, a journalist at NPR in Washington. He is the author of The Watchdog: How the Truman Committee Battled Corruption and Helped Win World War II, which received the Harry S. Truman Book Award from the Truman Library Institute. As a senior editor at NPR, his work has been recognized with many of journalism’s highest honors.