on the front page of the local newspaper i subscribe to was an article about how in 1988 a man from connecticut was sentenced to 45 years in prison for rape, assault, and larceny all in one incident.
today, 18 years later, james tillman is found to be innocent.
this article upset me more about the prison system. to me, the united states prison does not make any sense at all. how can one person have so much power to take away another person's freedom? im not familiar with other nation's methods of dealing with criminals, maybe those on this forum who are from other countries have insight on this.
like tillman, im sure there are countless others incarcerated for a crime they did not commit. i think prison is a ridiculous system of corrections. i cant even believe it is called "corrections" cause it really does no one any good.
i just wish crimal justice was more justified
Last post
I saw this on TV the other day and was shocked, he is just another victim of "TUNNEL VISION" if they beleive you are the one they wont look at any other person of intrest...
What's even worse is that once the "guilty" are found innocent, there is nothing but an "oops, sorry" for them. And are their records ever expunged? I heard one person say that it was still difficult for him because of his record even though he was found innocent. Disgusting!
Many people from many countries around the world are shocked and disgusted by the American justice system today. We watch in stunned disbelief as people who cannot afford a good lawyer are given a totally inadequate defence and sentenced to decades in prison or even death. Entire books have been written addressing this issue.
It is my belief that two of the major flaws in the US justice system are the facts that politicians influence sentencing by passing laws such as mandatory minimum sentencing that takes control away from judges to use their discretion.
The other problem arises from the practice of electing rather than appointing judges and district attorneys. As they know they must face reelection by an electorate that has been sold on the "get tough on crime" nonsense, every conviction becomes another notch in their belt towards keeping their job. Often they don't care how they get that conviction and instances of suppressing evidence or other unethical practices are too common.
There needs to be a balance between punishment and rehabilitation and unfortunately the rehabilitation component has been ignored in recent years in favour of a system that is about inflicting as much misery on anyone who can be found guilty by any means. Jail should be used only as a last resort, and only for as long as necessary (although for a few that means forever). Leaving people to languish for decades for a single mistake benefits no one.
I think that people worldwide have been reticent to criticize the US on their criminal justice system as they would be of the internal affairs of any soveriegn country ,but increasingly that is changing due to the repeated violation of human rights in the US prison system.
well,sometimes i do hate the system!
this is so stuppit,and he will not be the only one ,innocent in prison!
it will be very diffecult for him to clear his name.
a lot people will still judge him,i hope he got a good life now!
doggedpursuit (chris, right??) im crap with names!!
I like yours views and would like to subscribe to your bi-weekly newsletter!! haha
keep writing them an i'll keep reading them!
Scouse.