The Chicago Tribune continues its excellent series on wrongful convictions. Today's article features Aaron Patterson, age 39, one of 17 wrongfully convicted inmates freed from Death Row in Illinois. He is not in a forgiving frame of mind.

Since his release from Death Row 10 months ago, his goals have been at once simple and far-fetched, concrete and quixotic. He is going to run for political office someday and "shake the system up from the inside." He is going to save those he left behind the walls, and bail out others who need his help.

He is going to close crack houses and use his influence among gang members to turn street corner drug dealers into productive citizens. He is going to give them jobs cutting grass and shoveling snow. He is going to bend his old world to his new vision.

His first months of freedom have been a mighty struggle, as rage and reason battle it out for his soul. The same qualities that kept him alive on the streets and in prison--his refusal to back down, his reflexive resistance to authority--now get in the way as he tries to write a new chapter in his life.

Months after his release from prison, someone asks him how he had survived. "Anger. Anger. Anger," he replies.

Photos are here. Here is a chart of the 17 wrongfully convicted inmates in Illinois.