The bad ones are in jail, and the good ones are not, right?
I have three questions for you. They’ll come at the end of
this blog.
The court
appoints a defense attorney for an
indigent black man, charged with assault with intent to commit murder. The first
time he meets with the defendant is the morning of the trial. He fails to thoroughly cross-examine the
single witness who insists the defendant is the wrong person. The jury buys the
story of the Prosecutor, and the poor African American is sentenced to life in
prison. Wrongly convicted.
A County Prosecutor knowingly uses
junk science to convict a woman who has no prior offenses, is known to be a
devout and upright person, whom witnesses claim could not have committed the
crime of murder…but his boasts for continued re-election are that he has never lost
a case. The victory was obviously more important to him. The woman is in for
life. Wrongly convicted.
A Circuit Court Judge refuses to
listen to the testimony of professionals in the field of psychiatry, and
decides that a 13-year-old boy should be tried as an adult, and when convicted,
sentences him to the state prison system. His mental illness has never been
properly treated. He’s been raped and abused. He’s now in his 20s.
An aggressive attorney reads about a
criminal conviction, and convinces a wrongly convicted inmate that with a
down-stroke of $60,000, he can sue the pants off the lawyer who lost the case
for him. The minute he gets the down
payment, he cannot be found or contacted again. The money is gone. The man
remains behind bars.
An innovative attorney sees and hears that
prisoners are grasping for straws as Governor Snyder reaches his last year in
office. They’re hoping he’ll grant some
commutations of sentences, so this lawyer promises that, for a fee, he can file
such an application better than anyone else.
The record shows that the Governor has never granted one so far, except
for medical reasons. The lawyer takes the money. The prisoner remains in his
cell.
A crooked lawyer has been promising
everything but the moon to men behind bars, but after he receives the down
payment he fails to show up for meetings, claiming illness, and doesn’t bother
to answer his telephone. He won’t even return critical legal documents. The
money has vanished, and so has the attorney.
All of the
people listed in bold print are home with friends and families this summer,
enjoying outdoor barbecues, driving to work each day in nice cars, and telling society
that our judicial system works. It’s the best.
The people
who were sold down the river never got out. They’re hoping for visits from friends
and family, dreaming that someday they might be lucky enough to attend an outdoor barbecue. When
we hear from them, they’re just wondering if anyone even cares.
OK, here are
my questions:
-Who,
among the above, do you think belongs in prison?
-Do you care?
-What are
you going to do about it?
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