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    benjaminalloverHamilton Nolan
    1/27/15 2:09pm

    "In 58 of the 125 known exonerations in 2014—46%—no crime in fact occurred."

    What? I can't wrap my head around this idea.

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      Crunchy-Tacobenjaminallover
      1/27/15 2:15pm

      I have a friend that this applies to. Went to jail for three months and I'm fairly sure he committed no crime.

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      wakkawakkawakka2benjaminallover
      1/27/15 2:16pm

      they plead to some lower jail time instead of going to court and facing life or the death penalty. Presto! No need to prove a crime happened.

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    CJ4Hamilton Nolan
    1/27/15 2:38pm

    I'm a lawyer. Although I do commercial litigation, I have on occasion worked on criminal appellate pro bono cases, including several death penalty cases. In all but one case, my clients were guilty and the only issue on appeal was whether death was an appropriate sentence.

    In that only outlier, the guy was almost certainly, absolutely completely innocent. Even the investigating officer came around and conceded that the guy didn't do it and was prepared to testify to that effect. Even so, the DA's fought tooth and nail every single effort to re-open the case or even to allow this new evidence to be presented. The courts found that it was too late to bring the appeal and, ultimately, Texas killed him anyway.

    I'm not surprised that innocent people go to jail. But what does surprise me - consistently and staggeringly - is the extent to which the prosecuting agencies will go to keep those innocent people in jail even when presented with incontrovertible evidence of their innocence, even when nothing about the facts suggest malfeasance on the part of those authorities. That's not "tough on crime", it is a crime. Or should be.

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      KittensAndUnicorns_v2_The UprisingCJ4
      1/27/15 2:45pm

      The courts found that it was too late to bring the appeal and, ultimately, Texas killed him anyway.

      ...do you find it difficult to not bring your work home? i've never thought to consider what it's like for people like you, who create relationships with their dp clients and potentially have to see them off.

      ( did you go to his execution? sorry to be needle into your business)

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      StothamothafockinJCJ4
      1/27/15 2:45pm

      I mean who likes to admit that they are wrong? They will do anything in their power to make sure that you cannot and will not prove them wrong. Factor in a jury that half ass understands laws...and you get the death penalty.

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    PeabodyHereHamilton Nolan
    1/27/15 2:27pm

    The Thin Blue Line documentary by Errol Morris was intended to document a "Doctor Death" whose testimony in court cases regularly sent the accused to death row. Choosing a subject from his record, they investigated the case of a man on death row whom the filmmakers discovered to be wrongfully convicted. It is no stretch of the imagination to believe that if one chooses a prisoner at random and can document his or her innocence with a little investigation, that most persons within the penal system are wrongfully convicted.

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      momofpeanutPeabodyHere
      1/27/15 3:21pm

      Actually, that's an enormous stretch. You're also ignoring the fact that Adams wasn't exactly innocent - he was present when Harris killed Wood. That isn't the same as the system swooping up someone in a situation where no crime was committed, like Cameron Todd Willingham.

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      gandhihitlermomofpeanut
      1/27/15 5:20pm

      Very few things compare to what happened to Willingham. But even still, Morris' documentary is chilling, and does show a pretty diseased justice system.

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    dickbuttkisserHamilton Nolan
    1/27/15 2:31pm

    I used this about a week ago, but to paraphrase Penn & Teller: Even if you don't give a shit about locking up innocent people, every innocent person we lock up means one criminal we've stopped looking for.

    Prosecutors have too much incentive to convict everyone and there are basically 0 consequences for misconduct and/or locking up innocent people...

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      ChimHamilton Nolan
      1/27/15 2:15pm

      Conservatives need to recognize this. The prison population is a huge burden on society, which cost taxpayers money they think goes to some "welfare Queen" living the good life.

      Perhaps, if conveyed correctly, this can be an issue that unites left and right. But, then again, I'm snowed in and might have cabin fever.

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        thatthingonmydeskChim
        1/27/15 2:24pm

        "Conservatives" aren't the ones who want society to be micromanaged by government (i.e., by men with uniforms, badges and prisons).

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        Eli Manning stars in: Omaha! Omaha! Omaha!thatthingonmydesk
        1/27/15 2:38pm

        No, they do. They just get really angry when they happen to not be the ones in power over the guys with the uniforms, badges, and prisons.

        Most "conservatives" are just Republican partisan hacks. Ideological Monday Morning Quarterbacks. Show me the small handful of dissidents that criticized Bush for his policies while he was in power as savagely as they did Obama when he came to power; those are the only true conservatives.

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      GrumpyEagleHamilton Nolan
      1/27/15 2:42pm

      Although access to competent, dedicated legal representation is a big reason for this situation, there are a lot of people in the system who are voluntarily taking the fall for someone else. I've known public defenders who are good lawyers and wonderful people, but are so overbooked that they can't give each of their clients the depth of representation they need. To top that off, their clients often won't say anything for fear of (or in an under-the-table agreement with) the actual perpetrators. One client that really broke my friend's heart was a really nice guy who took the fall for his cousin, who had already gotten "two strikes" on his record, and he wanted to protect him from a third one. He ended up with a judge who threw the book at him and got double the sentence he was expecting. The cousin ended up getting in trouble again anyhow a few months later.

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        toothpetardHamilton Nolan
        1/27/15 2:23pm

        Socialism, american style!

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          Miskatonictoothpetard
          1/27/15 4:00pm

          Actually more like capitalism that has been perverted into a dreadful weapon.

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        Flm3454Hamilton Nolan
        1/27/15 3:46pm

        This is fucking terrifying.

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          werelionHamilton Nolan
          1/27/15 2:08pm

          Not surprised. Corrupt judicial system with widespread institutional bigotry and racism. And then combine that with a ruthless prison industrial complex that has more more prisoners per capita than any other country.

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            baddoggyHamilton Nolan
            1/27/15 2:41pm

            District Attorney's don't care about justice - they care about "winning" and conviction rates while police detectives are concern with closing cases.

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