The algorithms are part of the problem. Many states use a point system to assign risk and determine bail amounts. Some might be arbitrary, others based on existing statistics, but in this attempt to be blind and fair, you're either adding bias by the humans who make the algorithms or you create a self-defeating system because those stats are used incorrectly, pushing inmates into recidivism and essentially building a feedback loop. US prisons are a self perpetuating system.

In the particular case of the OP, if this is all true, it looks like they tried to call someone out who was very powerful. When corruption runs that deep, it's very difficult for change to occur. For every story that ends up like the one behind the movie Changeling, there are probably a dozen or more of people who tried to do the right thing and end up silenced in prison or mental hospitals forever.

Troy Davis was executed, even after former President Jimmy Carter spoke up and called for his case to be reexamined.