Uncensored Justice System Discussion

JUSTICE1st · Joined: 13 Dec 2007 Posts: 715 Location: USA

We can all agree, I think, that in order for positive changes to happen, the public at large has to be aware of them, or at least be willing to admit that serious problems exist, and need to be corrected. In addition to our anchors in the broadcast media, it's my feeling that we should also be writing letters to our favorite candidates for President, and let them know as well what we feel the problems are.

The time to make these requests of our candidates is BEFORE we give them what they want (our votes), not afterward. We have to tell them, in essence, "You want our votes, Mr./Ms. Candidate? Well, then you have to WORK for them. If you cannot or will not work on behalf of the people, then you do not deserve our votes. And we won't give them to you." That's the kind of message I think we need to be sending them.

It may sound a bit harsh, but I personally think we may have gone just a little TOO easy on our Presidential candidates in the past. And candidates running for other political offices in our cities and states too. But WE have to do some work as well, and that means writing to our candidates, TODAY (or this week at least), to let them know what we want. We want to tell them of our serious concerns, and ask them to work on solutions. Not just IDEAS for solutions, but an actual PLAN for a solution. And once they are in office, start putting those plans to work, to benefit the people who elected them, and even those who didn't.

I decided to send Sen. Barack Obama, who may very well be our next President of the United States, an email just yesterday. He may choose not to act on it, but at least I know I wrote it, and that I gave it my best effort. What he chooses to do or NOT to do, is up to him. And I won't stop there.

Anyway, here's my email letter to Sen. Obama. Feel free to use it, or write your own customized version of it, to write to your political candidates.

J Cool

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Dear Senator Obama,

Having read your web page on crime, and what you would do to address the tough issues regarding crime, I noted that there is one important topic you failed to even mention. That, Sen. Obama, is the subject of wrongful convictions. As a citizen and as a VOTER, I am deeply concerned that you don't seem to feel this is a topic worthy of your consideration. I can assure you, Senator, that it IS.

As of this date, over 200 people who were wrongfully convicted in earlier decades have now been exonerated, due to the availability of modern DNA testing, which excluded the wrongfully convicted and INNOCENT persons as being the original perpetrators. If you would prefer a more objective source than myself, you or someone on your staff may want to contact Mr. Barry Scheck of The Innocence Project, and speak with him or one of his fellow attorneys personally. Or take a look at their website, which is:

http://www.innocenceproject.org

The vast amount of information at this site will shed a "search light," if you will, on the tremendous problem of wrongful convictions. Regardless of what some members of law enforcement would like everyone to believe, wrongful convictions DO happen, and they have caused terrible harm; not only to those wrongfully convicted, but to their families and loved ones as well.

It is essential that our elected officials, who still work for the PEOPLE, begin to recognize that there are some terrible flaws in our criminal justice system. Wrongful convictions are ONE serious issue, and there are many others that have been, I regret to say, completely overlooked. You may well be our next President, and this is why I want to make sure I am voting for a candidate who is aware of ALL the issues, and who will work hard to correct them. Even those issues that may be unpopular.

I respectfully request that either you or someone on your staff take a few minutes, or even better, a few hours, to research the issue of wrongful convictions. Some of us, be we lawyers or just your average voters, ARE working to correct these wrongful convictions, either by working actively on the individual cases, or just by shining a powerful spotlight on them, and on the people they directly affect.

By creating awareness of them to the general public, we hope to both exonerate more innocent persons who have been proven to have been wrongfully convicted, and prevent future cases of wrongful convictions from occurring. I strongly believe it is a goal most worthy of achieving, and I can only hope you will, once you read about it, come to believe the same.

Sincerely,

(real name, city and state)
_________________
"We must remember, always, that accusation is not proof, and conviction depends on evidence and due process of law."
EDWARD R. MURROW, 1954

SaberGal · Joined: 12 Dec 2007 Posts: 349 Location: Oregon

Excellent, Justice. Since I believe that politicians only start to take notice of an issue when they start hearing about it from many people, I will join you in writing Sen. Obama and others in petitioning for their help and encourage our other members to do the same.
_________________
"Evil triumphs when good men do nothing."
- E. Burke
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That's OK. I wasn't using my civil liberties anyway. (Insert rolly eye emoticon here)

JUSTICE1st · Joined: 13 Dec 2007 Posts: 715 Location: USA

JUSTICE1st · Joined: 13 Dec 2007 Posts: 715 Location: USA

Although this is somewhat late (okay, I admit it, several MONTHS late lol), here is my final letter to Sen. John Edwards. I will be sending it to him by surface mail, in addition to email, since it is now emails that can sometimes get thrown away without ever being read.

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May 23, 2008

Senator John Edwards
410 Market Street
Suite 400
Chapel Hill, NC 27516

Dear Senator Edwards:

Please accept my apologies for writing this letter so late. I was very sorry to hear that you had dropped out of the Presidential race, although I know you had good and intelligent reasons for doing so. I believe you would have made an excellent President, and you would have definitely had my vote. I hope you will remain active in the Political community, because people like yourself, who are as concerned with our civil liberties as I am, are desperately needed in the top areas of what we know to be law enforcement. Indeed, I would love to see you appointed to the Office of Attorney General, if you would consider the office. I'll go even further, Senator, to say I strongly believe we really need you in that office.

The appointments of both Mr. Gonzalez and Mr. Mukasey by President Bush have been catastrophic for this country, since it is obvious that neither one of them was interested in working for the PEOPLE. They were only interested in protecting the President, no matter how many laws he chose to bend, twist and even break, whenever he chose to do. We as citizens and as VOTERS cannot afford any more self-serving and, dare I say it, dangerous, government officials in positions of real power. Any law enforcement official who considers it acceptable to torture people, knowing full well it is a crime to do so, one who justifies torture for his own political ends, is not serving the people at all. Such a person is only serving himself, and in fact has become a clear and present danger to the very citizens he has taken a solemn oath to protect.

You have, on your website, expressed the same concerns I have, to make sure we can both prosecute real terrorists and all criminals effectively, while protecting the rights of the individual at the same time. There can be no excuse or justification for shredding any part of our Constitution and Bill of Rights in the name of either the "War on Terror" or the "War on Crime." I think that President Bush, and these two Attorneys General (I believe that's the correct term?) should all be held accountable to the American people for their failures and their many mistakes when the appropriate time comes.

There is, however, one area you have overlooked on your web site, and it is one overlooked by many lawmakers in Congress, as well as Governors and state Attorneys General. It is the issue of wrongful convictions. As a citizen and as a VOTER, I am deeply concerned that you don't seem to feel this is a topic worthy of your consideration. I can assure you, Senator, that it IS.

As of this date, over 200 people who were wrongfully convicted in earlier decades have now been exonerated, due to the availability of modern DNA testing, which excluded the wrongfully convicted and INNOCENT persons as being the original perpetrators. If you would prefer a more objective source than myself, you or someone on your staff may want to contact Mr. Barry Scheck of The Innocence Project, and speak with him or one of his fellow attorneys personally. Or take a look at their website, which is:

http://www.innocenceproject.org

The vast amount of information at this site will shed a "search light," if you will, on the tremendous problem of wrongful convictions. Regardless of what some members of law enforcement would like everyone to believe, wrongful convictions DO happen, and they have caused terrible harm; not only to those wrongfully convicted, but to their families and loved ones as well.

I am sure you are well aware of the Duke Lacrosse case in Durham, NC, where a rogue prosecutor came very close to succeeding in having three innocent men wrongfully convicted of a terrible crime, which, as it turned out, never happened in the first place. Had these men not had the strong and highly effective attorneys they were very lucky to have, there would have been three more wrongful convictions added to these tragic statistics. And a corrupt and self-serving District Attorney would have remained in power, in that office.

It is essential that our elected officials, who still work for the PEOPLE, begin to recognize that there are some terrible flaws in our criminal justice system. Wrongful convictions are ONE serious issue, and there are many others that have been, I regret to say, completely overlooked. Although you will not be our next President (not this time anyway), you can still help us all as our next U.S. Attorney General. One who is aware of ALL the issues, and who will work hard to correct them. Even those issues that may be unpopular.

I respectfully request that either you or someone on your staff take a few minutes, or even better, a few hours or even days, to research the issue of wrongful convictions. Some of us, be we lawyers or just your average citizens and voters, ARE working to correct these wrongful convictions, either by working actively on the individual cases, or just by shining a powerful spotlight on them, and on the people they directly affect.

By creating awareness of them to the general public, we hope to both exonerate more innocent persons who have been proven to have been wrongfully convicted. We are also working hard to prevent future cases of wrongful convictions from occurring. I strongly believe it is a goal most worthy of achieving. For the sakes of the wrongfully convicted, for their families, loved ones and friends, I can only hope you will, once you read about it, come to believe the same.

Sincerely,

(real name, city and state)
_________________
"We must remember, always, that accusation is not proof, and conviction depends on evidence and due process of law."
EDWARD R. MURROW, 1954

Cujo · Joined: 28 Apr 2008 Posts: 13

Very good letters and wonderful idea to write. I find, however, that this is not a "popular" topic and is usually ignored.
Isn't it funny that people can get a platform to talk about abuse, but never get an ear for those that are falsely accused.
America, the land of the free? Hmm...

_________________
This is my opinion. Have a great day.

JUSTICE1st · Joined: 13 Dec 2007 Posts: 715 Location: USA

JUSTICE1st · Joined: 13 Dec 2007 Posts: 715 Location: USA

Cujo · Joined: 28 Apr 2008 Posts: 13

Yes, I have read his story and it breaks my heart. I am well aware that things like this happen and in an instant your lives are torn apart, a life savings gone to defend the innocent, trust is torn to shreads and is never regained.

The responses I have gotten from letters written even admit that they (Reps and Law makers) know the problem is there, some even admit that they know people personally that have had false accusations made against them and have gone through hell to try to restore their lives and reputations. However, none of them have been interested enough to try to do something about it. Amazing...

I agree 100% that we have to keep trying, we have to make people aware that it does happen and could happen to them. I think that the more we put out there with stories that allow people to read how "normal people" have had their lives turned upside down by false accusers, law enforcement that have an agenda for their personal gain, then hopefully we can make them change the laws. Personally, I feel that one law that needs to be created is one to punish those that make false allegations. Right now most all states have no laws addressing this issue, so the accuser is allowed to make as many as they want, to as many people they want and litterally nothing is done to punish them.
_________________
This is my opinion. Have a great day.

JUSTICE1st · Joined: 13 Dec 2007 Posts: 715 Location: USA

JUSTICE1st · Joined: 13 Dec 2007 Posts: 715 Location: USA

Below is a letter to Sen. Jim Webb, representing the state of Virginia. Feel free to use it, or write your own customized version of it, to write to your state political candidates.

*******************************************

June 9, 2008

Dear Senator Webb:

It was a pleasure for me to read your excellent book A TIME TO FIGHT, which I purchased about two weeks ago. As a citizen and a voter who is deeply concerned about the serious and completely overlooked issue of wrongful convictions in the U.S., I was happy to see that your chapter titled "A Criminal Injustice" addressed some of the related issues surrounding what some call our broken "criminal justice" system. Unfortunately, the issue of wrongful convictions wasn't seriously addressed in this chapter, although you did make several points that came close. Such as: "It is not considered politically wise to point this out, but over the past two decades America has gone completely jail-happy."

That statement is certainly true, and for many of us, it has reached alarming proportions. If you will read the column "The Criminalization of America" by constitutional law professor Jonathan Turley, who has appeared on MSNBC's COUNTDOWN program more than once, you'll note some of the "criminal offenses" some unlucky Americans were thrown into jail for are nothing short of insane. I've taken the liberty of enclosing a copy of Professor Turley's column, in the hope that you'll read it and agree. But this is not specifically what I am referring to, although it is related. The issue of wrongful convictions is still a politically sensitive and often-overlooked topic by many lawmakers in Congress, as well as Governors and state Attorneys General. As a citizen (who is not a lawyer, paralegal or even a law student) and as a VOTER, I am deeply concerned that you don't appear to feel this is a topic worthy of your consideration. I can assure you, Senator, that it IS.

As of this date, over 200 people who were wrongfully convicted in earlier decades have now been exonerated, due to the availability of modern DNA testing, which excluded the wrongfully convicted and INNOCENT persons as being the original perpetrators. If you would prefer a more objective source than myself, you or someone on your staff may want to contact Mr. Barry Scheck of The Innocence Project, and speak with him or one of his fellow attorneys personally. Or take a look at their website, which is: http://www.innocenceproject.org.

The vast amount of information at this site will shine a "search light," if you will, on the tremendous problem of wrongful convictions. Regardless of what some members of law enforcement would like everyone to believe, wrongful convictions DO happen, and they have caused terrible harm, not only to those wrongfully convicted, but to their families and loved ones as well.

I am sure you are well aware of the Duke Lacrosse case in Durham, NC, where a rogue prosecutor came very close to succeeding in having three innocent men wrongfully convicted of a terrible crime, which, as it turned out, never happened in the first place. Had these men not had the strong and highly effective attorneys they were very lucky to have, there would have been three more wrongful convictions added to these tragic statistics. And a corrupt and self-serving District Attorney would have remained in power, in that office.

It is essential that our elected officials, who still work for the PEOPLE, begin to recognize that there are some terrible flaws in our criminal justice system. Wrongful convictions are ONE serious issue, and there are many others that have been, I regret to say, completely overlooked. As a U.S. Senator representing the state of Virginia, where some of the worst cases of injustice have occurred, it is my hope that you will take some time to familiarize yourself with some of these issues and will work hard to correct them. Even those issues that may be sensitive or unpopular.

This work is far from easy, largely due to the fact that there are many in power in the "criminal justice" system who care more about getting more convictions to advance their political careers than they do about truth, justice, and whether or not they have a strong case against the accused person. These individuals don't welcome those who point out the serious flaws in the original cases that allowed them to obtain their highly-questionable convictions at trial, and frequently deny any hope for a new trial, because it would point out that serious mistakes and even egregious errors on their part. Admitting error is not a good thing for a prosecutor who may have his or her eye set on a higher political office.

But their political ambitions take second and even third place when someone has been wrongfully convicted, and there is hard, reliable evidence that points to the innocence of the accused, rather than guilt. Don't we all want to make sure that a prosecutor, who is entrusted with the highest office in the criminal justice system, is acting honestly and ethically, ensuring that he or she is abiding by the rules of law when prosecuting cases, to take care that the criminal defendant is receiving their constitutional rights to due process of law at all levels of the case? I certainly do, yet there are still some prosecutors and sadly, even judges who somehow believe the rules of law and ethics don't apply to them. If you could take time to read the book ACTUAL INNOCENCE by Barry Scheck, Peter Neufeld and Jim Dwyer, who began The Innocence Project, you'll read of such officials and the tremendous caused to criminal defendants by their acts of deliberate misconduct. Chapter Eight, entitled "Broken Oaths," describes some of these acts of unethical behavior in rather chilling detail.

I respectfully request that either you or someone on your staff take a few minutes, or even better, a few hours or days, to research the issue of wrongful convictions. Some of us, be we lawyers, or just your average citizens and voters, ARE working to correct these wrongful convictions, either by working actively on the individual cases, or just by shining a powerful spotlight on them, and on the people they directly affect.

By creating awareness of them to the general public, we hope to both exonerate more innocent persons who have been proven to have been wrongfully convicted. We are also working hard to prevent future cases of wrongful convictions from occurring. I strongly believe it is a goal most worthy of achieving. For the sakes of the wrongfully convicted, for their families, loved ones and friends, I can only hope you will, once you read about it, come to believe the same, and help us all work toward achieving that goal.

Sincerely,

(real name, city, and state)
_________________
"We must remember, always, that accusation is not proof, and conviction depends on evidence and due process of law."
EDWARD R. MURROW, 1954