I haven't posted much, if any, about the work that I do, but I thought I would share this blog post written by my colleague, Chris Hill. Georgia is set to execute Troy Davis, a likely innocent man, in less than 2 weeks, short of a commutation or pardon from the Georgia Board of Pardons and Paroles. If you are so inclined, I would encourage you to sign this petition, also linked from the blog. Campaigns like this - especially with such national attention - are often successful.
Troy is not our client, but his case highlights some of the major problems pervasive in the criminal justice system, which are even more problematic when society imposes the ultimate, irreversible punishment. Among them are the fact that onerous procedural hurdles prevent defendants from presenting new evidence of innocence on appeal. If it wasn't preserved in the trial, it's defaulted (of course, it's more complicated than that, but that's the basic idea). Also, the fact that the criminal justice system can allow a sentence of death when there is NO physical evidence against someone, and almost all of the witnesses have recanted represents a gross injustice. People think all of the innocence cases are old; now that we have DNA evidence, and CSI-style forensic techniques, innocent people aren't convicted like they used to be. The fact is that DNA is still a rarity in murder cases, and sometimes crimes just don't present satisfactory physical evidence. Jurors, especially in the face of a heinous crime, feel that someone ought to pay the price. They're comfortable convicting someone who was "up to no good" anyway, even if he didn't actually do it. Never mind that "reasonable doubt" thing. Sadly, Troy's case does remind me of other cases we have in our office.
Also, while I'm at it, here is an article about one of our cases that resulted in our client's freedom after over 14 years of incarceration, shortly after I began working here.
2 comments:
thanks for sharing more about your work with us, anna. i really think it is an issue most people aren't confronted with every day, and therefore it is easier to not confront its moral implications in our society. I'm reminded of a quote I just say on a a blog:
"I was the first American citizen to be elected to Congress in spite of the double drawbacks of being female and having skin darkened by melanin. When you put it that way, it sounds like a foolish reason for fame. In a just and free society it would be foolish." - Shirley Chisholm (http://womenagainstsarahpalin.blogspot.com/)
Of course, in some respects it deals with a different topic, but the last sentence, "in a just and free society it would be foolish", made me think about your post...
hear, hear!
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