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mewest — Wed, 06 May 2009 23:33:29 +0000

@shionsann, Thanks for the article. A great program, to say nothing of the rehabilitative aspects that bonding with the dogs might offer.11:39 AM Apr 9th from web in reply to shionsann

@shionsann, It seems that dogs and the wrongfully convicted suffer the same fate. They both die despite their innocence.9:48 AM Apr 9th from web in reply to shionsann

@nicolerh, The article is funny, yet informative. Its step by step plan is clear and seems easy to follow.9:07 AM Apr 9th from web in reply to nicolerh

@nicolerh, Great Article. The First Family has actually started that garden that some have petitioned they start to set an example.6:58 PM Mar 26th from web in reply to nicolerh

@shionsann, President Obama signed a federal bill on 3-2-09 to lift the funding restrictions for stem cell research.7:33 PM Mar 12th from web in reply to shionsann

@nicolerh, You would not believe the beautiful garden athttp://tinyurl.com/a9vrr48:15 PM Feb 19th from web in reply to nicolerh

@brendanor, Part of the bill that President Obama signed today included health care for millions of children.10:30 PM Feb 17th from web in reply to brendanor

@spiritofdancers, did you see my twitter on Judith Jamison’s award and the Alvin Ailey School of Dance?10:24 PM Feb 17th from web in reply to spiritofdancers

@shionsann , Interesting animated article that teaches kids about animal care at http://tinyurl.com/37fwm96:58 PM Feb 26th from web in reply to shionsann

@brendanor Great article. Shows real need for professional consultants in the televison business.11:50 AM Apr 9th from web in reply to brendanor

2 of 2 -Update for Ex 2. Different title at http://tinyurl.com/asul3x2:39 PM Apr 2nd from web
@mjwesson

1 of 2-My excersise 3 at http://tinyurl.com/asul3x2:36 PM Apr 2nd from web in reply to mjwesson

http://tinyurl.com/bv48ok is encouraging for wrongful imprisonment compensation. Man got $7,000,000. There needs to be more such cases.8:48 PM Mar 2nd from web

Think wrongful conviction can’t happen to you?http://tinyurl.com/ctspgk gives you something to think about.8:40 PM Mar 2nd from web

@cihuacoatl, I was struck by the article about Pa. Judges jailing kids for cash. It represents one of the reasons I’m writing on wrongful convictions.10:50 PM Feb 17th from web in reply to cihuacoatl

@Tiompanista , See my blog response to Pa. judges jailing kids for cash athttp://mewest.wordpress.com/8:53 PM Feb 19th from web. in reply to Tiompanista

Another good article-AELE LAW LIBRARY OF CASE SUMMERIES: full of wrongful convictions case histories.1:40 PM Feb 12th from web

Finding good info in an article- DNA Testing On Trial by Susan Spencer-Wendel. As of 2007 200 imprisonment cases exonerated by DNA.1:35 PM Feb 12th from web

A good story should be thought provoking and heighten awareness to problems, issues etc. locally, nationally or internationally.6:24 PM Feb 7th from web

@nicolerh Very informative piece. It not only told what pots to use, but when to use them.6:21 PM Mar 26th from web in reply to nicolerh

Exonerated, But Ruined

mewest — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 23:30:59 +0000

When considering the topic of exoneration, there is one aspect not often considered–reputation. According to one article, http://tinyurl.com/caszb6, by the time he or she is released, the average exonoree has spent twelve and a half years of his or her life in prison.

But their release from prison is only the beginning of another painful chapter of their lives. They must then undertake the difficult task of clearing their name. In addition, they have a police record and find it hard to find a job. Having no credit or job history makes the job hunt even more difficult.

to make matters even worse, while being incarated, these former inmates often develop emotional problems for which they can not afford help. In short,according to the article, they find themselves in a struggle to survive. These unfortunate individuals may have recieved their freedom, but their lives have been ruined.

Exoneration gives back freedom–but not a life

mewest — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 03:21:04 +0000

One element of the topic that I addressed in the post What’s in a Name was the idea of the system being able to restore a person’s freedom, but not their lost reputatiion. One article that I came across, http://tinyurl.com/cc66wh,talked about this unfortunate situation.” How can society repay stolen years, restore a ruined reputation, or heal a scarred soul. DNA testing can free some of the falsely convicted, but it can’t give them back their lives.

Follow-up to Trilogy Epilogue

mewest — Wed, 15 Apr 2009 02:08:37 +0000

I stated at the end of the Epilogue to Trilogy blog that I was beginnng to wonder if it was possible or even feasible to address the topic of wrongful identity inprisonment without also addressing the topic of fraud in the legal system. I have now decided that it is not. The more I research the more I encounter cases that involve legal fraud. According to one article http://tinyurl.com/dhfxw8 inacurate information testimony accounted for 31% of wrongful convictions.

Another article http://tinyurl.com/cj4vns stated that, among other culprits, government misconduct was the blame for wrongful convictions. In this misconduct officials actually take steps to ensure that a defendant is convicted dispite weak evidence or even clear proof of innocence.

The Carnegie Concept

mewest — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 13:24:02 +0000

One of the best pieces of advice I’ve ever gotten came from my father, in a dream that I had after his death. In the dream my older brother was bragging on me to my father about some future plans that I had in which I was going to do something quite big, at least to me. I don’t remember if it involved music or creative writing because in my youth I had asperations for several things at once. Like many kids, I dreamed of being a singer, actor, writer, or perhaps a sports hero. At any rate, I had bragged to my brother about doing something along those lines, and he, in turn, passed my grand plans on to my father. The dream seemed quite real, as my father answered my brother’s remarks about me with his characteristic wryness. He said ” Everyone wants to sing on concert day “. His remark hit me square in the face. I had expected at least some word of encouragement. I retaliated with a bit of sarcasm of my own. Half under my breath and half aloud, more so to my brother than my dad, I muttered–yeah, like Niles is just loaded with opportunity.

My father, meanwhile, said nothing to me, but I noticed him writing–just scribbling really– on a small note pad, some plans that he had to start a small business, as he continued to talk to my brother. I felt my anger began to grow. He was dreaming of his business–why couldn’t I dream also.

I am not the kind of person to remain silent for long if something is really bothering me. Dad, I finally said, I’ve got something to say, and I’m going to be quite honest. You said something a minute ago that, to me made no sense. And I want you to know sir (it gets foggy here, but I believe I might have said sir, as I’ve addressed him that way before when I suddenly realized that my speech may have been too bold ) that I am sincere when I say that I believe that the problem is with me. You said everyone wants to sing on concert day. But, in reality, how am I to exercise my talents when there are no opportunities in the area in which I live? His answer, which was only one word, came immediatly–” practice . You may ( again foggy–the word he used I did not understand, even in the dream, but the gist was )– you may lack opportunity now, but you won’t always. Sooner or later your opportunity is going to come, and when it does you have to be ready “.

Some may ask, why did I need this revelation from my father in order to realize something relatively simple, even common sense? The answer is that while most of us realize that we need to be working pragmatically towards our goals, too often we don’t actually get around to doing it.

I am reminded of the words of a speaker I once heard who asked his audience ” how many of you have dreams, goals and aspiration. Let me see a show of hands “. Just about every hand went up. Then he asked ” how many of you have done something about those goals and asperations today “. A much smaller number of hands went up.

We are all familiar with the old joke in which one person asked another ” how do you get to Carnegie Hall “, and the answer, of course was–practice. Yes, practice! For your opportunity will come. And when it does does, you must be ready. I encourage you to join me in the resolution to develop some kind of routine whereby you are daily working toward your goals.

The Bachelor of Fine Arts Exhibition-Wrap-Part 6

mewest — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 02:11:40 +0000

As I came to the final leg of my journey, I encountered a piece, also by Rachel Davis, that contained serveral pictures of various parts of a woman. One picture showed the upper torso, another-the lower body, the hands, arms and, finally, the neck-a smooth neck, attractively wearing a pendant, possibly given as a gift. The sensual aspect of marital separation, often the last thing considered when one thinks of wrongful convictions is, nonetheless, a reality.

The third and final work by Rachel Davis that I saw was another black and white. This one was entitled ” Only One Way Out “, and pictured the rear view of what appeared to be a youthful man who was standing before a door with a bright light beyond. There IS only one way out, I thought, and that way is exonerations., which can only consistently come about when we lift a public voice.

The very last work that I encountered was a painting, by Tony Schutz, of President Barak Obama. The portrait very aptly captured the broad smile of the president that, by now, most everyone is familiar with. But it was the eyes that caught my attention. They had a gleam–a gleam of hope. The title of the portrait was ” Change “. And in my mind I saw, along with everything else that that word implies, hope for the change of unfair laws and legal practices. But Barak Obama, even as president, can not do it alone. We also, must lift a public voice against unfair laws and practices. Then, and only then, can wrongful convictions, instead of looming in some futuristic age of robotic cops, actually become a thing of the past.

The Bachelor of Fine Arts Exibition-wrap Part Five

mewest — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 01:21:40 +0000

Part Two

As I continued my journey down the rocky path of wrongful convictions, which seemed so life-like in the various themes of frustration, uncertain waiting and violence, yet undeniably artifully created by the IUSB graduating students of fine arts, I came across another work by David Hornburg. This one, one of the most remarkable works I saw that day ( not so much for its aesthetics, but because of the stark message that it contained ) was simply a plaque entitled ” Running “, and contained the following eerie message, possibly from some song: ” Oh, I can see my self running, but I’m standing still. I can hear myself screaming, but there is no sound. I wake up crying. Life brings me down. It’s not worth losing until it’s found.

As I sauntered over to the next work of art, I was met by a black and white photo by Nicole Bogard entitled ” Reflections in Time “. The photo was of the interior of a house filled with various unfinished projects, such as a wall clock sitting in a corner waiting to be hung; a lamp on the floor, waiting to be placed on a stand etc.. The picture had an abrupt feeling of incompletion-of sudden departure-as if whoever started those projects never dreamed that, after an unspecified amount of time, those objects would still be sitting there. Undone.

The next work that I saw was also by Nicole Bogard, and it too was a black and white photo. This one was of an open door with nothing but blackness beyond.

Then there was the other black and white, by Ms. Bogard, of a night scene in which a porch light was turned on on the porch of a rather modest looking house. This one was entitled ” Someone’s at the Door “.

My journey continued with a work by Rachel Davis entitled ” Sorrow “. The work was a color sketch, if I remember correctly, of a face sketched in such a way that it was so disfigured that it barely looked human, and seemed to portray unspeakable. sorrow.

The Bachelor of Fine Arts Exibition-Wrap part 4

mewest — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 23:45:03 +0000

Part One

All of the expectations that were advertised concerning the coming of this fine arts event were met. The work displayed by these very talented graduating art students, had a large variety of themes. viewing their work increased my appreciation of fine art, as well.

The very first work that I came across was an oil on panel painted by Tony Schutz. The painting, which was quite large with a beautiful black ornamented frame, had vivid colors of many hues. There were bright reds in several shades, as well as brilliant yellows, greens, purples and a host of other colors. However, I noticed that the painting had no definite theme. There was no rythm or rhyme of any kind, and nothing seemed to fit. There were attempts, or stabs at some sort of design, but as soon as it appeared that some kind of theme was emerging, just as quickly, the colors would disolve into non-sensical patterns again. This portrait, if you could call it that, was appropriately titled– “frustration”.

The next work that I encountered was another creation by Tony Schutz. This time it was a sketch entitled ” Young Man Sitting On a Bench “. The youth sitting on the bench had his hands and wrist extended in front of him held tightly together, as if they were bound by some hidden shackle. His facial expression was one of uncertian expection, as if he did not know what to expect next.

Then there was the sketch by David Hornburg entitled ” Robots will blow me apart “. In the sketch were these spherical-like structers that were in reality, a jumble of words, which, in order to follow them completely, one had to follow the circle of the sphere and, at some point, end up reading with one’s head in an up-side down position. As the spherical message progressed, the words became so crowded that they became difficult to read. But with some effort one could gain the continuity of the main message, which was “If I try to escape, robots will blow me apart”.

Engaging Another Writer: EX 4

mewest — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 21:45:10 +0000

Attention John Tarzano:
I have read your article entitled WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS ARE STILL POSSIBLE IN NEW MEXICO, and I commend you for your insight into this unfortunate and ever growing situation in our legal system. Ordinarily, I support the death penalty, but in the case of New Mexico where you have good reason to have a lack of confidence in the criminal justice system. In its present state, the death penalty poses a real danger of wrongfully convicting and executing an innocent person. Under the circumstances, I support such action.
I particularly liked the part of the article where you emphasized that because the legal procedures in New Mexico are in such bad shape, dropping the death penalty and replacing it with life without parole give an opportunity to correct mistakes when wrongful convictions occur. You also made the point that such action will also eliminate the very possible situation in which, because life without parole is now on the books, many innocent people could fall into that chasm also.
While I applaud you for your recognition of the fact that a wrong has been systematically exercised over some unfortunate citizens, I would also encourage you not to neglect that all important addendum, namely, monetary award. If you have not read the article BURDEN OF INNOCENCE, I encourage you to do so. This document deals with the problem of wrongful conviction. You can find the article at http://tinyurl.com/c8n51s. Many of these people have been robbed of half of their lives. Please see my blog entitled ADDITIONAL REPORT ON RESEARCH PROJECTat http://tinyurl.com/asul3x. My blog gives additional insight into the problem of wronful convictions.
Obviously nothing can replace time lost in terms of a person’s life. You obviously have an important voice, and you have brought much needed attention to this problem of wrongful conviction. I encourage you to join me, as we continue to write and bring public awareness to wrongful convictions and the problems associated with it, such as the unfortunate ones who are often left with an apology and a few dollars.

Wrongful Convictions: Global Implications–EX 2

mewest — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 01:49:45 +0000

Surprisingly, only a few sources that I have researched so far were willing to offer a clear cut definition of wrongful conviction. In fact, the Australian Institute of Criminology, loosely defines wrongful conviction as follows:

The term “ wrongful conviction could encompass situations where people are…tried and convicted, have exhausted all appeals but who later have their convictions quashed in an extraordinary appeal and no retrial ordered, or found not guilty at such a retrial or have been pardoned ( hufa 202a;; New Zealand Law Reform Commission ). This definition closely follows that adopted in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR ), except that the ICCPR addresses the issue of compensation in wrongful convictions and states the following:

When a person has by a final decision been convicted of a criminal offense and when subsequently his conviction has been reversed or he has been pardoned on the ground that a new or newly discovered fact shows conclusively that there has been a miscarriage of justice, the person who has suffered the punishment as a result of such conviction shall be compensated according to law, unless it is proved that the none-disclosure of the unknown fact in time is wholly or partly attributed to him.

The aim of this paper is to acknowledge some of the many wrongful conviction cases, both in the United States and around the world, where not only justice was served, but also monetary compensation was awarded, and simultaneously, to foster support for the expansion of such dispositons in these unfortunate cases. This document was written with a view to persuade its readers to lift a public voice and band together against wrongful convictions.

Researching these facts of foreign countries had the distinct advantage of revealing the international scope of the problem of wrongful convictions. One of the chief sources that was introduced to me by the reference librarian was the National Criminal Justice Reference Service (NCJRS ).

The various abstracts of the NCJRS offered some interesting insights on how other countries have dealt with the problem of wrongful convictions. For example, information was given on how Poland has historically responded to the problem and how the Polish system works today.
Exoneration of those in Poland, according to the NCJRS, who have been wrongly convicted is regulated by the Rehabilitation Act of 1991. Any sentences given to people surrounding their activities related to the independence of Poland were declared void.

This declaration of an invalid verdict automatically implied that the person was not guilty. In this way the legal authorities took care of the both the legal and moral side of the issue with one stone, so to speak.

The abstract went on to explain that adequate compensation for wrongful convictions in Poland has always been a problem both before and after communism . However, the new Code of Criminal Procedure of 1997 has expanded the limits of compensation for wrongful convictions. In addition. Poland’s legislation for wrongful convictions is now in compliance with the European Convention.

France has a relatively low amount of wrongful conviction cases overturned. Their pouvoi en revision (petition to obtain a new trial after a final verdict ) offers an extremely limited concept.

Under the French system, many judicial mistakes go either undetected or uncorrected. Before 1981 the death sentence was irreversible, which made the whole subject of wrongful conviction one of paramount importance.

A big part of this paper is the role that DNA has played in exonerations. Canada ha s passed the DNA identification Act, which became official on June 30, 2000. This legislation allowed a DNA data bank to be created and amended the criminal code to provide a mechanism for a judge to order persons convicted of designated offenses to provide blood, buccal or hair samples from which DNA samples will be derived.

The National DNA DATA Bank respects considerations of genetic privacy and follows strict guidelines as specified in the DNA Identification Act. The biological samples collected from convicted offenders and resulting DNA profiles can only be used for law enforcement purposes. It assists law enforcement agencies by: 1. Linking crimes together where there are no suspects. 2. Helping to identify suspects. 3. Eliminating suspects where there is no match between crime scene DNA and DNA profile in the national DNA DATA Bank and determining whether a serial offender is involved.

Here in the state of Michigan, there has been a survey of criminal justice officials, in which they were asked to estimate the incidence of wrongful convictions not only in their jurisdictions, but in the United States as a whole. In general, the response was that, in their individual jurisdictions, wrongful convictions occurred at a rate of less than 0.5% and at a rate of 1—3% in the nation as a whole.

It seems that the answer one got depended on who they asked. For example, when defense attorneys were asked the question, they estimated higher rates of wrongful convictions than, say, judges prosecutors and policemen.
The response , according to the NCJRS abstract, depended on what was at stake for each profession in terms of attempts to gain or prevent convictions. For example, taking the lower estimate of 5% of wrongful convictions for Michigan jurisdictions, the abstract explained, and extrapolating it to the nation as a whole yields around 5,000 wrongful felony convictions per year, as well as the imprisonment of about 2,000 innocent people each year.

The document went on to explain that sometimes wrongful convictions occur because of what it referred to as “ moral panic “ due to highly infamous crimes or even allegations of crimes that disgust the public.

So what started out in my research to be a homeland issue has become global because of the various contributions of other countries on the subject.