« Americorps | Main | Justice Part 2 »
June 07, 2005
...With Liberty and Justice for All
I'm not necessarily interested in law. But I believe in justice. I do believe that people are wrongfully convicted and prosecuted every single day. Of course, I have nothing to back this up, it's just something I know that goes on. Some readings in the history class that I am taking talks about police brutality in mid-late 1900's; how they targeted American Indians, Black people, and Homosexuals. Police brutality is an ugly reality that is still in the air today, but a lot less of it going on for sure. I love history, but the more I read about the past, and the "past" as in less than 100 years ago, it just boggles me that people were just so ignorant and selfish and ....where were their brains?! Did they have any?! What kind of people even thinks of such things as segregation, slavery, "killing a Sioux as initiation," etc.... Wow, I got totally sidetracked. I was trying to introduce you to this website which is a petition to "Help Exonerate the Wrongfully Convicted" here. On an episode of CSI: Criminal Scene Investigation, one of the prisoners sends Grisom a video tape pleading he didn't do it, you're the only one that can help me. Jim Brass, the Captain says "that's what they all say."
But seriously, do you wonder how many innocent men and women are on death row or sentenced to life? Convicted by false testimonies, poor investigation, bad lawyers, and DNA yes, have often times showed up in the news that were mistaken! Of course there are creeps out there who molest, murders, and what have you, and they should be jail. But at this petition site, a man, Bruce Higgins says it best, "Our oxymoronic "criminal justice" system repeatedly convicts the innocent and frees the guilty. The federal Justice for All Act must be fully funded, and all states must adopt similar laws to protect the innocent so that any citizen will get a fair trial before being declared guilty or not guilty--and can be exonerated if wrongfully convicted."
So I encourage you to sign this petition. I know only 29 have signed so far and it may in fact never make an impact. But many of us will have a try at a jury chair one day, take that into consideration. But don't cause fights, I've heard of those too :)
Posted by thao0226 at June 7, 2005 03:27 PM | How to Save the World