Dear friends,
Innocent people have languished in our prisons for years, some of them on Death Row. This is a horrible blot on our nation’s justice system. Since 1989, DNA has been used to exonerate more than 225 innocent prisoners in the United States. At least 123 of them had received death sentences before they were declared innocent.
Obviously, all human institutions are flawed; perfection is unattainable. Yet, there are reasonable procedural safeguards that would substantially reduce these erroneous convictions, and the Church has an obligation to press for those reforms. Imprisoning innocent people is offensive to God. “Acquitting the guilty and condemning the innocent – the Lord detests them both.” Proverbs 17:15
Ray Krone is an honorably discharged Air Force veteran who had no prior criminal record. Yet, in 1991, he was charged with the murder, kidnapping, and sexual assault of a woman who was his friend. Although he consistently claimed he was innocent, he was convicted and sentenced to death. Ray spent 10 years in prison before his DNA was tested. The test proved that he was innocent. It also identified the real murderer.
I had the great fortune to get to know Ray while we both served on the Vera Institute’s Commission on Safety and Abuse in America’s Prisons. He is a gentle and kind man and is not bitter despite the terrible injustice he endured. For over a decade the police were not pursuing a murderer because they mistakenly believed that they “had their man” behind bars. Had Ray not been allowed to have scientists test the DNA, or if the woman’s DNA not been preserved, or if there had been no DNA to test, Ray would never have been released, and the man who was the real danger to society would never have been apprehended.
How many more innocent people like Ray suffer in our prisons today? What can we do to gain their release? And, what should we do to make sure no one else is falsely imprisoned? By studying the mistakes that were made in the exonerated cases, several factors recur: mistaken identification by eyewitnesses, coerced false confessions, testimony by jailhouse informants who lie in return for money or a reduced sentence, error-prone police labs, and prosecutorial and defense misconduct and incompetence.
These issues clearly require reform in order to end these injustices.
Many respectable criminal justice leaders are championing the effort for reform. For instance in California, John van de Kamp, who was U. S. Attorney for Central California (Los Angeles) and served several terms as District Attorney in L.A. and as California’s Attorney General, led the Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice. The Commission, a broad, bi-partisan panel of experts that dealt with each of the issues identified above, offered excellent recommendations for reform. Justice Fellowship supported a legislative package that incorporated many of these policy changes that would address these glaring problems without undermining public safety. Unfortunately, Governor Schwarzenegger vetoed the bills.
I recently met with Barry Scheck and his team at the Innocence Project to discuss their wonderful work and to explore ways Prison Fellowship can help their efforts to enact reforms. The meeting was arranged by John Kaneb, who serves with me on the National Prison Rape Elimination Commission. John is a very successful businessman whose faith motivates him to tackle society’s most vexing problems and to use his business acumen to help those whom Jesus called “the least of these, my brothers and sisters.” One of the ideas we discussed was the possibility of creating a commission similar to the Prison Rape Commission to establish standards to prevent future convictions of innocent people.
There is definitely a movement underway across the country to address the horrid injustice of convicting innocent people. We have prepared a list of the common mistakes that lead to erroneous convictions along with suggested remedies. We have also compiled a list of organizations that are working to address these issues.
Please use these resources to learn more about how we can protect the innocent and become active in the effort to enact reforms. Perhaps you could bring this topic up with your Bible study or with your local legislators. The Church needs to engage the community on this issue. We allow innocent people to be locked in prison. “Have nothing to do with a false charge and do not put an innocent or honest person to death, for I will not acquit the guilty.” Exodus 23:7
In His service,
Resources
Justice Fellowship issue page on Protecting the Innocent
The Innocence Project
Keeps innocent people out of prison and free from punishment by supporting extensive DNA usage and reform of the ways in which suspects are treated.
Innocent Inmates Association of Ohio
Works for the rights of incarcerated men and women who are innocent yet being punished.
The Innocence Network
Lists organizations and agencies across the country that provide legal assistance to innocent people affected by the criminal justice system.
Truth in Justice
Educates the public regarding the vulnerabilities in the U.S. criminal justice system that make the criminal conviction of wholly innocent persons possible.
Death Penalty Information Center
Shares stories and information about wrongful capital punishment convictions.
Life After Exoneration Program
Addresses the injustice of wrongful convictions by assisting exonerees and their family members in re-building their lives on the outside.
Innocent in Prison Project International
Provides a forum for possibly innocent prisoners, their families, friends, human rights activists and abolitionists of the death penalty to share news and information.
The Justice Project
Works to increase fairness and accuracy in the criminal justice system.
President's DNA Initiative
Offers numerous publications and research information on DNA testing in the sphere of criminal justice.
Commission on the Fair Administration of Justice
Created by the California Legislature, this commission has issued in depth papers on the practices that have led to wrongful convictions, and offers thoughtful remedies. |
