• This is a political forum that is non-biased/non-partisan and treats every person's position on topics equally. This debate forum is not aligned to any political party. In today's politics, many ideas are split between and even within all the political parties. Often we find ourselves agreeing on one platform but some topics break our mold. We are here to discuss them in a civil political debate. If this is your first visit to our political forums, be sure to check out the RULES. Registering for debate politics is necessary before posting. Register today to participate - it's free!

US man wrongfully jailed shares cautionary tale

Hatuey

Hatuey

Rule of Two
DP Veteran
Joined
Oct 17, 2006
Messages
59,331
Reaction score
26,991
Gender
Male
Political Leaning
Undisclosed
US man wrongfully jailed shares cautionary tale - Yahoo! News

Green was just 18 years old when he was convicted. Police were searching for four men suspected of raping a woman in a stolen car, and found Green walking nearby.

When police asked the victim if Green was one of the men who raped her, she told officers no. About a week later, Green was arrested for stealing a car. The next thing he knew he was in a police lineup, and identified by the victim as one of the rapists.

"I preached to those dudes in prison, just like I preach to these youngsters to stay out of the way (of trouble)," he said. "Because the system is not going to play with you."

Sharing the stories of their wrongful conviction can help exonerees to heal, and can offer some structure, said Karen Wolff, a social worker with the Innocence Project.

"All cases are unique, and that's not always the solution for everybody," Wolff said.

Green also has a lot to teach, said Michea Carter, director of theater arts at Westbury High School, who invited Green to speak after her students performed a play about exonerated inmates earlier this month.

"You need someone like Michael to come in and show them this is real," Carter said.

During a question and answer period that evening, students asked Green everything from what prison life was like to how he felt being convicted of a crime he did not commit.
Click to expand...

It's because of stories like this that I oppose the death penalty. As more and more stories come out where hundreds if not thousands of people are freed after decades of jail, it's only a matter of time before one of those stories ends up with the murder of an innocent person payed for by our taxes.
 
He is one of 265 people in the United States who have been exonerated since 1989 as a result of the development of DNA testing of key evidence, according to the Innocence Project.
Click to expand...

That means that DNA evidence can be used to remove doubt of someone's innocence and send them to the death chamber.
 
Hatuey said:
US man wrongfully jailed shares cautionary tale - Yahoo! News



It's because of stories like this that I oppose the death penalty. As more and more stories come out where hundreds if not thousands of people are freed after decades of jail, it's only a matter of time before one of those stories ends up with the murder of an innocent person payed for by our taxes.
Click to expand...

See folks, some people don't believe in progress. 27 years ago, what Police used for solving cases is EXACTLY how they are today, same rules, laws, science, equipment and training.

So nothing has changed and nothing has gotten better. :roll:
 
Hatuey said:
US man wrongfully jailed shares cautionary tale - Yahoo! News



It's because of stories like this that I oppose the death penalty. As more and more stories come out where hundreds if not thousands of people are freed after decades of jail, it's only a matter of time before one of those stories ends up with the murder of an innocent person payed for by our taxes.
Click to expand...

Death penalty opponents often say that stuff about hundreds if not thousands are found innocent. I can't find any corroboration of numbers that high. You may be talking about convicts in general, but if the argument is whether the death penalty is a bad idea, we should confine the discussion to convicted murders.

This site lists 138 such cases going back to 1973. DNA evidence was key in only a fraction of those, though granted it is a relatively new means of establishing innocence.

Innocence: List of Those Freed From Death Row | Death Penalty Information Center

But what about those cases in which there is no question of guilt whatsoever? The murderers of James Byrd, for example. They admitted guilt and asked for the death penalty.
 
Last edited:
Hatuey said:
US man wrongfully jailed shares cautionary tale - Yahoo! News



It's because of stories like this that I oppose the death penalty. As more and more stories come out where hundreds if not thousands of people are freed after decades of jail, it's only a matter of time before one of those stories ends up with the murder of an innocent person payed for by our taxes.
Click to expand...

That's not very likely. When guilt or innocence is reduced to scientific terms, as in court records and legal documents, the human element tends to get lost. It is only after a person is emancipated by science and protocol that the human element can be returned to their story, in the form of a interview or other creative non-fiction.

People who have been executed aren't emancipated by science; the state doesn't invest resources into whether a person might or might not be guilty after they are dead.
 
Last edited:
LuckyDan said:
Death penalty opponents often say that stuff about hundreds if not thousands are found innocent I can't find any corroboration of numbers that high. You may be talking about convicts in general, but if the argument is whether the death penalty is a bad idea, we should confine the discussion to convicted murders.

This site lists 138 such cases going back to 1973. DNA evidence was key in only a fraction of those, though granted it is a relatively new means of establishing innocence.

Innocence: List of Those Freed From Death Row | Death Penalty Information Center
Click to expand...

This is called a strawman. My argument was regarding the hundreds (if not thousands) who have been exonorated whether or not they're in death row.

But what about those cases in which there is no question of guilt whatsoever? The murderers of James Byrd, for example. They admitted guilt and asked for the death penalty.
Click to expand...

What about them?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom