Solitary is Torture

Great video, pass it on:

prison, crime, law, solitary confinement, inmate, locked up, torture, incarceration

Interesting Wrongful Conviction Stats

From the Texas Observer:

—The 250 innocent people have been sent to prison in 33 states for a combined 3,160 years. That's an average of 13 years in prison. Think about where you were in 1997. (I was in the middle of my sophomore year in college). Bill Clinton was just a year into his second term. Now think about spending every day from 1997 till now in prison for a crime you didn’t commit.

—60 percent of the 250 exonerees are African American; 29 percent are white.

—17 were on death row when they were exonerated. That’s 17 innocent people who would have been executed had DNA testing not cleared them. You have to assume there's been an innocent person somewhere who wasn’t lucky enough to have testable DNA in their case and was wrongly executed in this country—quite possibly in Texas and quite possibly Cameron Todd Willingham.

—76 percent of the wrongful convictions were caused, at least in part, by witness misidentification. In 38 percent of the cases, more than one eyewitness wrongly identifying an innocent person.

Read the rest: Who Gets Wrongly Convicted and Why

prison, crime, law, innocence, innocence project, wrongful convcition, wrongfully convicted, exonerated

Johnny Depp Believes in West Memphis Three's Innocence

From The Huffington Post:

Johnny Depp will appear on this Saturday's "48 Hours Mystery" as he makes a plea for a new trial for the West Memphis Three, three teenagers accused of murdering three boys in a satanic ritual in 1994.

As seen in the preview clip below, Depp says, "I firmly believe Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley are totally innocent. It was a need for swift justice to placate the community.

Watch CBS News Videos Online

prison, crime, law, west memphis three, johnny depp, 48 hours mystery, murder, damien echols, jason baldwin, jessie misskelley

Give a Sick Woman Proper Medical Care

Please take action and call and e-mail Commissioner Epps and Governor Barbour this week. The goal is to have 1k (one thousand) people call and e-mail. Please make this a priority - Jamie's life is at stake. Also, if you have not already, sign the petition on the front page of this ning site. Please also send a copy of responses to mail@wrongfulconvictions.ning.com


Please call the following this week
Christopher Epps - and Ask that Jamie Scott #19197 be given proper medical care and that he also allow an outside specialist who has committed to volunteer his time, to examine her.

Christopher Epps Commissioner
Mississippi Department of Corrections

723 North President Street
Jackson, Mississippi 39202

601-359-5621 (Phone)
601-359-5680 (FAX)
CEPPS@mdoc.state.ms.us

Haley Barbour - Assistant
Ask that the governor release both Jamie Scott #19197 and Gladys Scott#19142 Jamie Scott is currently in poor health and the sisters have served over 15 years in prison where no one was murdered or injured. Conflictingly, this was based on $11, (eleven dollars)

Haley Barbour -
Personal Assistant
Dorothy Kuykendall
1-877-405-0733
(601) 359-3150
DKuykendall@governor.state.ms.us

Visit WrongfulConvictions at: http://wrongfulconvictions.ning.com/?xg_source=msg_mes_network

prison, crime, law, jamie scott, woman, ill, sick

Freddie Peacock is 250th Exonerated

250 is too many people, let's do something about this!

(NEW YORK, NY; Thursday, February 4, 2010) - A Rochester, New York, man who was wrongfully convicted of rape 33 years ago is being exonerated with DNA testing today, in what the Innocence Project said is the 250th DNA exoneration in the United States.

Freddie Peacock, 60, was convicted of rape in December 1976. He was sentenced to up to 20 years in prison and released on parole in 1982. He tried to remain on parole because he thought he would never be able to clear his name if he was released from state supervision. For the last 28 years since he left prison, he has fought to prove his innocence even though he was no longer incarcerated.

"Freddie Peacock was released many years ago, but he hasn't been truly free because the cloud of this conviction hung over him," said Olga Akselrod, the Innocence Project Staff Attorney handling the case. The Innocence Project is affiliated with Cardozo School of Law. "Nobody in the U.S. who was exonerated with DNA testing has spent this many years outside of prison fighting to prove his innocence. Today, the decades-long nightmare that Freddie Peacock and his family have endured is finally over."

prison, crime, law, dna testing, dna, exonerated, exoneration, freddie peacock, innocence, innocence project, rape, wrongfully convicted, wrongful conviction

New Prison Blog

And Justice for All? by Littlesun, go check it out, subscribe, follow: http://prisonzombie.blogspot.com/

prison, crime, law, blog

Court Dimisses Suit Againts John Grisham

Ada — A libel suit by former Pontotoc County District Attorney Bill Peterson against author John Grisham was dismissed in federal appeals court in Denver Monday.

The suit also included allegations against Dennis Fritz who was convicted of a heinous murder, along with Ron Williamson, until DNA two decades after the fact was proved not to match crime scene evidence. Both Grisham and Fritz wrote books about the case which presented information Peterson said was libelous.

The Tulsa World reports that 10th U.S. Circuit Judge Carlos Lucero said the fact public officials were plaintiffs in the case made the burden of proof more difficult.

“Given that plaintiffs are public officials, they face an especially heavy burden in attempting to demonstrate libel,” The Tulsa World reports the judge as writing.

AdaEveningNews.com - Ada, Oklahoma - Court dismisses Peterson suit again

john grisham, bill peterson, dennis fritz, wrongful conviction, innocence, author, book, prison, crime, law

Repeal the Death Penalty in South Dakota

Count on my neighbor Representative Gerald Lange (D-8/Madison) to stand up for principle and good policy. Lange is prime sponsor of House Bill 1245, a measure to repeal South Dakota's death penalty. Thirteen legislators, all Democrats, have signed their name to this bill. I applaud them for having the gumption to look South Dakota's screwed-up, bloodthirsty machismo in the eye and say that killing people, even killing bad people, is wrong.

Madville Times: HB 1245: Repeal Death Penalty in South Dakota

south dakota, death penalty, death sentence, death row, capital punishment, execution, prison, crime, law

KPBS Special: Life In Prison: The Cost Of Punishment

This 30-minute documentary explores the cost of California’s “tough on crime” legislation. It gives you an inside look into three state prisons, including the California Medical Facility. CMF houses the oldest and sickest inmates in the state.

KPBS Special: Life In Prison: The Cost Of Punishment « Prisonmovement's Weblog

kpbs, prison, crime, law, california, tough on crime, california medial facility

John Bradley Violated Texas Open Meetings Act

Rick Casey of the Houston Chronicle has a column today on how Rick Perry's handpicked puppet/chair of the Texas Forensic Science Commission violated the Texas Open Meetings Act (PDF) at Friday's meeting, which was held in Harlingen. The Dallas Morning News' Trailblazer blog first reported on Bradley's violation of the TOMA. Bradley should be removed as chair of the Commission. He has proven by his handling of the first meeting that his main goal was to cover-up and impede the investigation into whether Texas relied on faulty arson evidence to execute a person who did not kill anyone.

One of the Commission members should offer a motion at the next meeting of the Commission to recommend that Rick Perry replaces Bradley as chair. Bradley is an elected district attorney. He knows about the TOMA. He obviously violated the act on purpose as part of his cover-up of the Willingham investigation. The commission members should also read up on Robert's Rules of Order to make sure they know how to exercise their own authority to control Bradley.

Read the rest:  Texas Moratorium Network: More on How John Bradley Violated Texas Open Meetings Act at Texas Forensic Science Commission Meeting

prison, crime, law, cameron todd willingham, john bradley, texas, forensics, arson, murder, wrongful conviction, innocence, executed