Stirring the Pot
I might as well go there. A couple of weeks or so back, the Duke Lacrosse players saw charges dropped when evidence showed that they could not have committed the rape of which they were accused. I remember a lot of pundits trying to play a racial game of “gotcha” by trying to attack prominent black folks for not speaking out on this when they were so vocal about Don Imus. Well, I’m going to turn the tables on those critics and ask, where are you today now that Jerry Miller became the 200th person exonerated by the Innocence Project?
You see, as bad as it was for the Duke players to have their reputations damaged, a lot of people (too many of them black), without the benefit of being able to afford good legal representation, have been left to languish is prisons for decades for crimes they did not commit. In this instance, Jerry Miller spent 25 years in prison for rape, was paroled as a sex offender and was forced to wear an ankle monitor. In a supreme twist of irony, the person who actually did the crime can’t face charges because the statute of limitations for the crime ran out.
So, while I feel for anyone accused of a crime they did not commit, where are these folks who were accusing black people of hypocrisy a couple weeks ago now that this story has come out? Two hundred is a huge number and this is just based on what the Innocence Project has been able to do so, I have to believe that there are many more.
So, from the Scottsboro Boys to Jerry Miller, America has seen a lot of innocent black folks go to jail for long stretches of time, only to have their innocence established either when they’re dead or when some of their most productive years were behind them. Therefore, “gotcha” crowd, what do you say about this?
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I think the Innocence Project is doing outstanding work. Unfortunately, for many men sent to prison years ago, the DNA technology used so often today, wasn’t available. It is wonderful that these men are being released, though, tragically it is sometimes after years spent in prison. What was striking in the lacrosse case, is that these men were indicted even though the DA knew there was no DNA match. With the sophisticated DNA testing available today, that should scare anyone. These men would not have been able to appeal based on new DNA evidence, because there never was any DNA evidence.
April 23rd, 2007 at 6:23 pmIf anything good can come out of this case, it is a change to the grand jury system, limiting the DA’s power, and demonstrating to the world false accusations are not uncommon. Frankly, the reason I was drawn to this case was because my daughter is a Duke athlete and knew several members of the team. I had always assumed, incorrectly as it turns out, that a person convicted of rape must have done the crime. I assumed “beyond a reasonable doubt” ensured innocent people weren’t sent to prison. I have had literally no experience with the criminal justice system, but trusted it to be fair. It has truly opened my eyes to the injustices in the system and I will be much more skeptical of indictments in the future. I admit to being naive, am determined to keep up with local cases, and will work toward helping those falsely accused.
The three young men all admit that their ability to pay for good legal representation was crucial in proving this was a false accusation. Reade and Colin both want to go into law - Reade, defense attorney, Colin, hopes to one day become a judge. Reade expressed concern about those who could not afford such representation.
Anyway, I agree with most of what you say. However, the fact that Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, among others, condemned the lacrosse players and won’t apologize for their comments is disturbing. These same men demand Imus to apologize for a comment, while certainly hurtful, was hardly at the same level as Jackson/Sharpton comments about the team. These young men were facing up to 50 years in jail and they definitely stirred the racial pot that helped create a very dangerous campus environment last spring.