While on vacation a couple of weeks ago I finished John Grisham's latest book, The Innocent Man. I've read every book published by Grisham, in order, so I'm quite experienced with his writing style and ability. This is his first non-fiction legal thriller, and in my opinion it is a splendid read. If you like his novels (my fav is The Partner), then you'll certainly be entertained by this one that, though minus the wonders of created characters, is just as compelling and full of suspense.In a related bit of news, I read this article yesterday about a man in Texas who is going to be exonerated because of DNA testing in his case. James Curtis Giles (not the evangelist, Jabel) is being helped by The Innocence Project which I first read about in the Grisham book.
With the rise of CSI and other crime-solving shows, the focus on forensic science is at an all time high. Crime scene investigation, though, is not fool-proof, and the ethics (good and bad) of the investigators seems to play a much larger role than what I ever considered. I always thought it was pretty cut and dried, but alas, once again, I was wrong...
*****UPDATE*****
4-23-07
Another Innocence Project victory, it seems. Click here.
6 comments:
So the DNA testing proved that Jim "I Was Saved in a Van Halen Concert" Gilles was not, in fact, the father of Anna Nicole Smith's baby?
No, you know the father of the baby is Howard the Duck-he was seen leaving her apartment in Birkenstocks the night she yelled "EPT is my favorite two letters!" You can see why everyone is so confused...
These cases are what make me so nervous about capital punishment. I understand and sympathize with the theoretical justification for its practice, yet I'm not confident our system hands out the death penalty justly. Not only is there the problem of killing innocent people, but also what appears to be racial imbalance. If what I have read is true, minorities are sentenced disproportionately to the death penalty, even after taking into account all the usual explanations for the disproportion.
Yeah, that's the impression I get too, concerning minorities. The Grisham book so well illustrates the pressure put on law enforcement agencies to crack the case asap, and get a conviction speedily, seemingly at any cost. B/c of this, the defenseless are frequently targeted and nailed, which, in my opinion, is one big reason why this disproportion takes place. The formula would read: 1 murder + 1 character who was thought to be in the vicinity and is too poor or incompetent to mount a good defense = quick judgment. Just a thought...
One of the accused guys in the Duke rape case made this same point. They were railroaded for political reasons - and because they fit the stereotype. They had plenty of money to fight the accusation, but what about all poor folks who are falsely accused?
I hadn't seen the Duke rape case connection, but that is interesting. One other point that was intriguing to me was how one man said the pressure on law enforcement today was even higher than in years past because the public has a false perception that forensic science is quick and precise, due to the popularity of shows like CSI. He wasn't blasting CSI, or television for that matter, just that the public view is a bit skewed because they think a whole case can be cracked in an hour time slot. It's a tough situation, I know, because the family wants closure as quickly as possible, and that pressure has to be almost unbearable at times for law enforcement. Obviously, though, this hunger for swift justice isn't new, it's been popular for time immemorial and has resulted in beheadings and hangings within hours of the crime in many cases, no doubt. The only sure-fire remedy is to speed up the facts gathering and processing, and though technology is helping that issue along, I'm not sure we as a society have the patience required. I'm at a stand still on this one...
Post a Comment