Crying

[geiger]

I'll keep this out of the Primaries section, even though I post because of it.

I just heard an NPR piece about a guy who had been incarcerated unjustly for twenty years in an awful Florida prison. Now the Florida Senate won't agree to give him any compensation.

I had almost turned the channel before the piece started, just because I didn't want to hear anything frustrating today. But, for whatever reason, I was meant to listen to it.

And, I cried. If I hadn't, I would have to wonder about me.

[Dawggie]

1. This happens far too often.

Welcome to the draconian America creatid by the puritanicals that don't even realise they are.

We must hate those we can and rid them from our site! :sarcasm:

[geiger]

8. grew up in a family like that....

thanks for your input.

[ixion]

2. yep... the crime there was committed by the government

and it IS a most heinous crime to rob someone of 20 years of their life, and then show them the hand when they ask for renumeration. There ought to be a law against that. It seems are government is very quick to make laws that punish individual citizens, but can't seem to muster the will to make a law that protects them from abusive government.

[geiger]

7. from what I heard, yeah, there's all sorts of perseveration and maybe excuses on the part of ....

the Florida Senate legislators. I say take care of this guy, and figure out the rest later. He's already had twenty four (I stand corrected; I had "heard 20) years stolen from his life. Plus, his mother, who apparently never lost faith in "the system," she died before he got out (somehow, I think that bothers him most of all). It's absolutely heartbreaking. You could hear the pain and hestitation in this guy's soft, raspy, tired voice as he spoke. It's an absolute travesty. I wish I myself could do something for him.

[Make7]

3. I think this is the case the NPR piece was about...

 

On January 23, 2006, Alan Crotzer was freed from prison after postconviction DNA testing proved his innocence of a 1981 rape, kidnapping, and robbery. Crotzer had spent 24 years in prison in Florida for this crime - more than half his life. Crotzer and two co-defendants, Douglas James and Corlenzo James, were convicted of these crimes in 1981.

http://www.innocenceproject.org/Content/76.php

He's been out for two years and is still trying to get compensation.

January 28, 2008

Fair compensation

Don't make the innocent beg for justice

Alan Crotzer deserved better treatment from Florida's criminal court system. He spent 24 years in prison for a rape and robbery he did not commit. And when DNA evidence finally freed him, he deserved better than the treatment he got from the state. He had no job skills, no way to support himself, little help with readjusting to a life outside of a concrete cage.

Crotzer deserves better treatment from the Florida Legislature. In the spring session, he'll appear in committee rooms to tell his story and ask for compensation. The state has already taken away a significant chunk of his life -- when he was sentenced, Crotzer had every reason to think he would die behind bars. The state took his chance to watch his daughter grow up. The state took his chance to say goodbye to his mother.

The state shouldn't take his dignity as well. Nor should it deprive other men and women who may be exonerated.

...more


http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/Opinion/Editorials/opnOPN75012808.htm

- Make7

[geiger]

5. thanks, I usually try to cite sources, but I was upset and off to a meeting.

Thank you for letting people know.

[TahitiNut]

4. Read "The Innocent Man" by John Grisham

This book (available in paperback as of December 2007) should be required reading, particularly for residents of Oklahoma. It's NON-FICTION ... which is more than I can say for the "evidence" used to convict some people.

[geiger]

6. I will find a copy tomorrow and read it. Thank you.

[TahitiNut]

9. I just finished it. It SHOULD be enough to change any Death Penalty proponent's mind.

It's nightmarish in its scope and detail. And it's ALL true.

[madokie]

10. been a worry of mine all my life

I've read about it happening ever since I learned to read and it always scares me.