February 5, 2012
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Miscarriage of Justice Week: Prelude
A class of extraordinarily tragic stories is the tales of individuals convicted of crimes they did not commit. Our newspapers are filled with stories of people freed after years, sometimes decades in prison, freed after DNA evidence overturns their conviction. We are happy for them that they are cleared, and we cry for them, wondering how they can put their lives back together after so many years (often their younger years) were wrongly taken from them.
On rare occasions, the people in question have died in prison. On even worse occasions, the people in question have been executed by the government. That, most feel, is unconscionable. That's the ultimate outrage, isn't it? To mistakenly take everything from someone, and then, to want to give someone's life back and be helpless to do so.
Happily, here in the U.S., there's never (in recorded legal history) been a case of a person executed who was later exonerated. We point to this spotless statistic and carry on with our consciences unburdened, trusting in a rigorous system to prevent such unthinkable errors.
BUT!Believing something doesn't make it true, nor does remaining ignorant make it false.
How justified is our faith in our legal system? How reasonable is it to think that such an injustice has never been committed in this country?
This week, I will present a handful of the most questionable cases in U.S. history. I urge the world to think about them. And if the people involved really were innocent, then that is what happened. Remaining ignorant doesn't make them guilty.
Comments (2)
I personally believe that giving the state the power to kill its citizens is a dangerous power to give an institution. Whether or not the citizen deserves to die, I could care less. The thought that our justice system holds those types of cards is enough to give me nightmares.
@BoulderChristina -
I agree with you. I oppose the death penalty in all cases. People are emotional creatures though, and the way to convince people is often to appeal to their emotions. If people see stories of innocent people being wrongly killed, I hope they'll feel bad about the whole thing. The repeal of capital punishment in the U.K. came after the wrongful death of Timothy Evans.
Thank you for your statement! Voices against capital punishment are always always welcome. ^^
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