DailyKos Morning Feature: Freeing the Innocent

05.13.09

The heavily-trafficked Morning Feature at DailyKos today focuses on the Innocence Project’s work – and encourages people to get involved.

DailyKos contributor plf515 shares the stories of several Innocence Project clients who have been exonerated with DNA testing and writes:

They're all innocent.

Actually, that's wrong.  Oh, they were all innocent.  None of them committed the crimes for which they were convicted. All have been exonerated, through the work of the the innocence project.  But …

I am innocent.  I've not been accused of any crimes; I've never been arrested.  I've never been tried.  I've never been convicted.  I've never served time. I'm innocent, and I'm free, and that's as it should be.  In our criminal justice system, we don't find people 'innocent' – we find them "guilty" or "not guilty", and, while there is a very good reason for that – the burden of proof is on the prosecution – it plays a subtle psychological game. Once you've been on trial, you are no longer 'innocent', only 'not guilty'.  

But the people with whom the Innocence Project works are more than not guilty and more than innocent  – they are victims.  Victims of a system that is supposed to keep the innocent safe, not just from criminals, but from the law.  We are all threatened by criminals; but we are all also threatened by the law.  



Read the full post

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In his post, plf515 asks people to donate to the Innocence Project, and he commits to match the first $500 in donations. Within hours, nearly 100 people commented on the post, several of whom donated to the Innocence Project via DailyKos – and one person stepped forward to double the matching amount offered by plf515.

Visit DailyKos to donate or read comments from around the country

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