BUFFALO NEWS SAYS INNOCENCE COMMISSION OVERDUE IN NEW YORK

New York State’s legislature hasn’t been interested in an innocence commission, an idea that is gaining momentum. This was noted in the Buffalo News today in an opinion piece that calls on the state to take the matter seriously. Select this link for the article.

The editorial states: “Democrats will take over the Senate in January. This is an obvious and comparatively easy problem for them to address. No state can ever guarantee that the innocent will never be wrongfully convicted, taken from their families and locked behind bars. People aren’t perfect, so their systems can’t be either. But New York can do a whole lot better than it has. It should do that.”

CRIME POLICY REFORMER SAYS TIME IS RIGHT FOR “RADICAL IDEAS”

From “Crime and Justice News,” 11/7/08
Eric Sterling, president of the non-profit Criminal Justice Policy Foundation, writes on the Huffington Post that the economic and political time is right for “innovative, even ‘radical,’ ideas in criminal justice. “Last year we had 2.3 million Americans in prison and jail,” Sterling writes. “How many American cars did these men and women buy last year? That’s right, none. That 2.3 million is about ten times greater than the 250,000 prisoners in America during the auto industry’s glory days of the 1960s and 1970s. There are another 8 million Americans who got a felony conviction for possessing or selling drugs in the last twenty years. With their convictions, these people rarely have jobs. They don’t have a legal income and they don’t have credit.”

He goes on to make the case that placing these citizens into the consumer stream might help the economy. He writes, “The economic effect of more than ten million American adults who can’t buy cars, houses, furniture, appliances, or other durable goods is like 9- 11, Katrina, and every other hurricane combined. Even with a job, many are without a credit card and are shut out of the marketplace. From Ticketmaster to Amazon.com to the local shore store, American businesses are losing sales. Economically, our criminal justice policies are cutting our throat. Aside from the economic cost, is imprisonment of all of these 2.3 million Americans good anti-crime policy? Not according to the research. Effective crime fighting uses smart police strategies, adequate mental health care, good schools, recreation for youth, jobs and focused rehabilitation.”

PUBLIC OPINION CHANGES OVER TIME

In criminal justice cases, those involving law enforcement fall prey to sensationalism and the “let someone pay –anyone” response. This is true in the case of Troy Davis, a Death Row prisoner in Georgia, where the extreme pressure from law enforcement to uphold the conviction is flying in the face of national and international pressure to slow down and request a serious review through the legal system.

A case, 36 years old, is in the public eye for a review from Angola Prison in Louisiana. The case also involves law enforcement and two prisoners convicted in the case of the death of correctional officer. The case of two prisoners, who have been in solitary confinement for 36 years, is now being questioned in coverage from National Public Radio.

Check out the above link for excellent photos, interesting print and audio reporting.

FOUR EX-PRISONERS SEEK “CERTIFICATE OF INNOCENCE”

From Crime and Justice News, citing an article from the AP:

Lawyers at Northwestern University have filed petitions on behalf of four exonerated former Illinois inmates, the first under a new law that would allow them to seek compensation from the state. Under the law, exonerees can apply to the county court of their conviction for compensation instead of waiting for a pardon from Gov. Rod Blagojevich. That county court may grant a “certificate of innocence.” “People would still like to receive the innocence pardons from the governor,” said Karen Daniel, an assistant law professor at Northwestern University School of Law. “This wouldn’t replace that process. It’s an alternative means of getting the compensation.”

Among the four filings was one for Marlon Pendleton, 51, who is eligible for seven years of compensation after he was exonerated on DNA evidence from convictions of aggravated criminal sexual assault and armed robbery. A certificate would make Pendleton eligible for job training and provide him with more than $100,000 in compensation. The Illinois General Assembly overrode Blagojevich’s veto of the legislation, making it law Sept. 22. Blagojevich has faced criticism for a backlog of hundreds of clemency petitions.

Associated Press/Chicago Tribune

BOOK ON PARDONS GIVES BROADER CONTEXT

The virtual end to pardons and grants of executive clemency on the state and national levels is of concern to scholar Kathleen Dean Moore in her book on pardons. She says the political climate has made “…the exercise of mercy a politically risky act” which defeats the intentions of this nation’s Founders who believed that without a clemency power “justice would wear a countenance too sanguinary and cruel.”

Launch of Discussion

This is an effort, sponsored by friends and family members of Gary McGivern, to support the creation of an Innocence Commission in New York State using his case as an example of the way in which the situation was politicized over the years.