A Promise of Justice tells the story of the case the Ford Heights Four, the worst miscarriage of justice since the Scottsboro trials in Alabama in the 1930s. Four innocent black men collectively spent 64 years in Illinois prisons -- two of them on death row -- for a crime they did not commit. Based on police and prosecutorial misconduct, perjured testimony, and the ineptitude of court-appointed defense lawyers, these four boyhood friends were convicted of the abduction, rape, and brutal murder of a young white couple. The Ford Heights Four professed their innocence, and only two men listened: journalist Robert Warden and Professor David Protess. The two joined forces and enlisted the help of three of Protess's journalism students. They not only proved the men's innocence but also found and helped convict the real murderers. A Promise of Justice is an unflinching look into the workings of justice and punishment in America, and proves more spellbinding and emotional than even the best crime fiction (Touchstone Pictures has already optioned major motion picture rights).