Pennsylvania Innocence Project Celebrating 10 Years With Member Of Central Park Five Front And Center

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Pennsylvania Innocence Project is celebrating its 10th anniversary with one of the Central Park Five front and center. Yusef Salaam, who spent seven years in prison for a crime he didn't commit, headlined a special celebration for the project at the National Constitution Center.

Salaam now refers to the Central Park Five as the Exonerated Five. He's now committed to making sure no one ever spends another day in prison for a crime they didn't commit.

"How do we move forward by looking at where we are and where we were to be able to be better in the future?" Salaam said.

Salaam has made criminal justice reform his life's mission. He spent seven years in prison after he says he was forced into a false confession and was subsequently convicted of raping a white woman in New York City's Central Park back in 1989.

"Part of truly being able to move forward is finding value in the test that you went through," he said. "They say you can't testify unless you've been through a test."

Salaam was convicted along with Kevin Richardson, Antron McCray, Raymond Santana and Korey Wise. They were all eventually exonerated in 2002. Salaam, along with many others, had already served their entire prison and parole sentences.

"Look at a case like mine and you say to yourself, 'Wow, this is the most unbelievable kind of case.' But the fact of the matter is, cases like this go on all the time," Salaam said.

Salaam was the headline speaker for the Pennsylvania Innocence Project's 10-year celebration on Wednesday night. It was held at the National Constitution Center. Since 2009, the nonprofit has helped exonerate 17 Pennsylvanians.

"What we say is, it's easy to get locked up," Pennsylvania Innocence Project Executive Director Nan Feyler said. "What we say is, it's easy to get locked up. It's easy in particular if you're a person of color to end up in the criminal justice system, but it's very hard to turn that around."

The Pennsylvania Innocence Project is currently working with state lawmakers on criminal justice reform. They want to change interrogation practices.

Salaam says he didn't know when he was interrogated at the age of 15 that he had the right to remain silent.

"Nobody ever thinks they have the right to remain silent," Salaam said. "They're not taught that. They're taught you're in trouble, you need to say something."