被误判死刑，她却在监狱里找到了内心的自由

1976年，Sunny Jacobs和丈夫被朋友栽赃谋杀两名警察（误判），被关进死囚室17年，而丈夫被直接处决了。

那时候Sunny只有28岁，她和丈夫、两个孩子在旅行途中汽车抛锚了，于是丈夫联系了一个叫Walter Rhodes的朋友来帮忙，当时Sunny就认为Rhodes这个人不像好人，行为很诡异。当Sunny在汽车后排睡着时，被警察敲车窗的声音惊醒了，然后就听到了几声枪响，警察倒地……

后来Rhodes栽赃是Sunny夫妇枪杀了警察，法院竟然也相信了，于是二人都被关进了死囚，两个孩子被别人收养。不久之后丈夫就被执行了死刑……

监狱里的生活度日如年，尤其是背负着莫须有的罪名，让自己的内心煎熬无比。后来她意识到她自己也可以做出选择，那就是与自己内心进行对话：内心的安宁不是外界能给予的，而是自己找到的。于是她不再把自己当成受害者，而是在监狱里开始做瑜伽，冥想。17年后Rhodes向警方坦白自首，说当年诬陷了Sunny夫妇。

她被无罪释放了。

"I had to learn how to do things all over again," says Sunny, who is now 65 and looks notably frail for her age because of a chronic back problem. "I had to learn how to make a living, be a mother and simply be a person again. It was very difficult, but at the same time I wanted to get past it. I wouldn't say my experience haunts me, but it's always there. Everyone gets challenged in life and you can either spend the rest of your life looking backwards, or you can make a decision to keep going. That's the choice I made."

后来她遇到了来自爱尔兰的现任丈夫Peter Pringle，他同样是当年被误判关在死囚室15年（当年爱尔兰还没有废除死刑），后来被翻案，无罪释放。

两人都经历过类似的冤屈苦难，都能深深理解对方心里的苦楚。

此后两人在美国一直致力于废除死刑的运动。（西方发达国家除了美国之外均已废除死刑）

"At home, we don't talk about what it was like in prison. That's understood," says Peter. "We've been there, done that. That's the way it is." 

Sunny adds: "We don't talk about who we were. We don't need to." 

Despite the years they lost in prison and everything they have been through, they are not bitter. "Life has turned out beautifully," says Peter. "Sure, it's not without its difficulties. We have no money. But we do good work. We are at peace. And we have a great life together. We look forward, and we live in the moment."

……

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