Cory Maye to Be Released From Prison "Within Days"

Former Reason criminal justice reporter Radley Balko, appropriately enough, has the story:

MONTICELLO, Miss.—After 10 years of incarceration, and seven years after a jury sentenced him to die, 30-year-old Cory Maye will soon be going home. Mississippi Circuit Court Judge Prentiss Harrell signed a plea agreement Friday morning in which Maye pled guilty to manslaughter for the 2001 death of Prentiss, Mississippi, police officer Ron Jones, Jr.

Per the agreement, Harrell then sentenced Maye to 10 years in prison, time he has now already served. Maye will be taken to Rankin County, Mississippi, for processing and some procedural work. He is expected to be released within days.

Read Balko's October 2006 Reason feature on "The Case of Cory Maye" here. Check out Reason.tv's "Mississippi Drug War Blues" below:

And here's Balko–who was recently named "Journalist of the Year" by the Los Angeles Press Club–talking to Reason.tv about helping get Maye off death row:

This is a great day for individual justice, and for the notion that you don't need a newsroom of 500 people to make a difference in this messed-up world.