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Just wondering how many people here have thought about this the same way I have.
When someone is found guilty of a crime he or she did not commit, and later exonerated, it usually makes headlines. Stories of a paltry sum paid out in restitution, and how the person is glad it's over with and ready to be restored to liberty.
What does not very often get mentioned, however, is how the person came to be wrongfully convicted. To me, the answer is obvious. Someone had to be lying somewhere. The biggest liar of them all would be the prosecution, yet there never seems to be any call to hold them accountable for robbing an innocent of precious years of his life, years that can never be reclaimed.
Whether he "believed" in his cause is irrelevant. Whether he believed the defendant was guilty is irrelevant. What matters is that an innocent was convicted based on his convincing a jury that he was guilty.
My own opinion is that in every case where a man is found to be wrongfully convicted, they must look back at the record and punish the prosecutor. Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, month for month, year for year, and death for death.
Restitution money should come out of the prosecutors own pocket, and the debt should not be able to be discharged in bankruptcy, even if it means he loses his home.
The prosecutor should also be permanently disbarred.
If it sounds like I have a dislike for prosecutors, it's because I do. There never has existed a more dishonorable profession than one who makes his living robbing people of life, liberty, and property.
Just wondering how many people here have thought about this the same way I have.
When someone is found guilty of a crime he or she did not commit, and later exonerated, it usually makes headlines. Stories of a paltry sum paid out in restitution, and how the person is glad it's over with and ready to be restored to liberty.
What does not very often get mentioned, however, is how the person came to be wrongfully convicted. To me, the answer is obvious. Someone had to be lying somewhere. The biggest liar of them all would be the prosecution, yet there never seems to be any call to hold them accountable for robbing an innocent of precious years of his life, years that can never be reclaimed.
Whether he "believed" in his cause is irrelevant. Whether he believed the defendant was guilty is irrelevant. What matters is that an innocent was convicted based on his convincing a jury that he was guilty.
My own opinion is that in every case where a man is found to be wrongfully convicted, they must look back at the record and punish the prosecutor. Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, month for month, year for year, and death for death.
Restitution money should come out of the prosecutors own pocket, and the debt should not be able to be discharged in bankruptcy, even if it means he loses his home.
The prosecutor should also be permanently disbarred.
If it sounds like I have a dislike for prosecutors, it's because I do. There never has existed a more dishonorable profession than one who makes his living robbing people of life, liberty, and property.
it isnt always that someone is lying, there are many times when identities were mistaken. there are also times when the evidence points to more than one person, and the prosecutor has to make a decision as to who to prosecute. sometimes investigators read the evidence wrong, or the evidence is poorly handled or improperly tested. there are also times when exculpatory evidence is ignored or not produced in time for the trial.
wrongful convictions happen from time to time, and it is bad when it happens. as for judgements against the state when they do happen, most states have rules and regulations regarding this.
It's not as rare as the government would have us believe.
Those who endanger the person or property of others should be in jail. Now, how many people are in jail in this country who haven't caused harm to anyone?
I think there are more wrongly convicted people then we know of or are aware of. Of course we usually only hear of these cases, when new information has come to light, and the person is freed, sometimes due to DNA.
I do think in some cases, there is a rush to judgement, and the innocent now the accused. Awful terrible when this happens. I have seen cases as this on John Walsh. When sometimes 25 years later the innocent has now been released due too new information or DNA evidence.
Can you imagine if you were at the wrong place at the wrong time, and were mistaken for someone else, then handcuffed and off to jail! That has got to take so much out of a human being, and the thing that has gotten them thru, has got to be real faith, and determination that the truth will someday prevail.
I think there are more wrongly convicted people then we know of or are aware of. Of course we usually only hear of these cases, when new information has come to light, and the person is freed, sometimes due to DNA.
I do think in some cases, there is a rush to judgement, and the innocent now the accused. Awful terrible when this happens. I have seen cases as this on John Walsh. When sometimes 25 years later the innocent has now been released due too new information or DNA evidence.
Can you imagine if you were at the wrong place at the wrong time, and were mistaken for someone else, then handcuffed and off to jail! That has got to take so much out of a human being, and the thing that has gotten them thru, has got to be real faith, and determination that the truth will someday prevail.
There's a tremendous leap between saying the prosecutor went after the wrong guy and saying that the prosecutor was lying. A lie is a knowing misstatement of fact with intent to deceive. In most cases that's not what happens. One serious problem is that eyewitness testimony is about the least reliable form of evidence, and the ways in which the police obtain identification generally make it worse.
On the other hand, there are plenty of cases where the prosecution has in its possession exculpatory evidence (known to lawyers and viewers of Law & Order as Brady material) and knowingly fails to turn it over. In my view those cases should be harshly punished, with generous compensation provided to the victim.
[quote=jackmccullough;24633936]There's a tremendous leap between saying the prosecutor went after the wrong guy and saying that the prosecutor was lying. A lie is a knowing misstatement of fact with intent to deceive.
Either way, the result is the same, someone is punished who didn't deserve it. The prosecutor, whether he knew he was lying or not, told untruths with the intent of seeing the man punished. A prosecutor that lies unknowingly should still be subject to sanctions. One that lies knowingly should be put to death.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jackmccullough
This is one very important reason we need to reelect Barack Obama: your civil liberties are at stake.
Hardly. It might be a reason to elect someone like Ron Paul, but Obama hardly comes off as anymore of a civil libertarian than George W.
It's not as rare as the government would have us believe.
You wouldn't care to post accredited data showing the total number of people convicted vs the number of people convicted that were later proven to be innocent would you?
Nahhh, do the C-D thing of innuendo, conspiracy and fantasy
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