Does Texas have the highest rate because they are trying to do the most justice (that is, with the greatest number of death penalties too) or is it because their justice system is the most defective, and therefore, there are the most provably innocent people behind bars?
"Texas is a Third-World hellhole."
Cheers!
Maybe we should ask Tom DeLay.
Texas has a very high rate of these exonerations because we are looking for them. These are being led by the Dallas county Prosecutor’s office. There is no better way to ensure that the justice system is in fact just, than to root out and publicize past injustice.
Name one other state where the PROSECUTOR’s office has taken the lead on this. We have a new tool available in DNA, and in those cases where the DNA evidence is still accessible, we compare it to the incarcerated individual. If it’s not a match, then we let the person out.
Dallas County DA Craig Watkins deserves international recognition for this effort, and it should be replicated around the country.
Like any human endeavor, the criminal justice system is imperfect. We are just trying to be less so.
Don’t be so smug if your state is not doing this. You also have innocent people in jail, but you are leaving it to their own resources for them to assert their innocence. Texas has brought STATE resources to this problem.
Hmmmmmm!
Interesting THREAD here.
AND ... some interesting posts as well. :)
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Pingin’ a few Texans here!
(And pingin’ my General Interest List as well cuz I thought
you’d wanna know!) :)
Ping! Ping! Ping!