Ruby Cole Session, whose son was wrongly convicted and prompted her campaign to win landmark legislation in Texas, has died. She was 77.
Session lobbied Gov. Rick Perry to sign the Tim Cole Act, named for her son who was convicted of a 1985 rape and died in prison in 1999. The legislation compensates those who are wrongly convicted and spurred other reforms meant to reverse wrongful imprisonments.
DNA results prompted Perry to pardon Cole in 2010. Another man confessed to the rape of a Texas Tech student.
Session was honored earlier this year in the Texas Senate for her achievements as a criminal justice reformer and "fierce champion of the wrongly accused."
Son Cory Session says his mother died Thursday at her Fort Worth home of an aneurysm.
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