Learning from Injustice

A recent editorial in the Washington Post examines two high-profile exonerations and asserts that Donald Gates and James Bain aren't alone. Gates served 27 years in prison for a 1981 murder in Washington, D.C., that DNA now proves he didn't commit. James Bain served 35 years in Florida prisons, more than any other exoneree in American history, before DNA set him free on December 17.

"As appalling as the two cases are, what's even scarier is the thought that imperfections in the criminal justice system will go uncorrected and more people could be wrongly jailed,," the Washington Post editorial says.

This is why the Innocence Project works to address the root causes of wrongful convictions. For every person freed through DNA testing, countless others remain behind bars without the evidence needed to prove their innocence.

Donald Gates was convicted in 1981 based on improper forensic testimony, and in 2010 we still haven't addressed the lack of consistent forensic standards and oversight in this country. Learn more about the need for federal forensic reform and take action today at the Just Science Coalition website.

Michigan Supreme Court to hear indigent defense lawsuit

he Michigan Supreme Court has agreed to hear a challenge to the state’s public defender system. More accurately, to the state’s lack of a public defender system and the fact that each county is responsible for providing attorneys for indigent defendants without funding or oversight from the state.

The lawsuit, a class action suit filed by the ACLU, seeks to have the indigent defense systems in three counties — Berrien, Genesee and Muskegon — declared unconstitutional and require the state to bring them in line with the requirements of the constitution.

A study earlier this year by the National Legal Aid and Defender Association and the State Bar of Michigan concluded that Michigan’s public defender system was so inadequate that it had become a “constitutional crisis.” In a press release, the ACLU praised the court’s decision to hear the case and argued strongly in favor of forcing the state to fix the system:

“In a state where we spend more on prisons than on education, it is imperative that this broken system be fixed and that all those accused of a crime receive the same quality of justice no matter how rich or poor,” said Kary L. Moss, ACLU of Michigan Executive Director. “We look forward to the opportunity to explain to the Michigan Supreme Court the need for our case to proceed so that justice is not delayed for poor people in the state.”

Earlier this year, the state asked the Court of Appeals to dismiss the case for technical reasons, arguing that the state was immune, that a class action is inappropriate and that the plaintiffs could not sue until after they are convicted. The Court of Appeals rejected the state’s arguments recognizing the plaintiffs must be given the opportunity to prove that the state has violated the Constitution.

“We cannot accept the proposition that the constitutional rights of our citizens, even those accused of crimes and too poor to afford counsel, are not deserving and worthy of any protection by the judiciary in a situation where the executive and legislative branches fail to comply with constitutional mandates and abdicate their constitutional responsibilities,” wrote Michigan Appeals Court Judge William Murphy.

Michigan currently ranks 44th out of 50 states in spending on indigent defense.

A 2d chance at freedom for juvenile offenders Supreme Court hears case today

THE UNITED States is currently the only country in the world that sentences minors who commit crimes to life in prison without any hope for parole. Soon, the Supreme Court will declare whether we change this policy.

Today, the court will hear oral arguments in two cases, Sullivan v. Florida and Graham v. Florida, and later decide whether sentencing juveniles to life without parole for offenses not involving a homicide qualify as cruel and unusual punishment under the Eighth Amendment. The young man in one case was convicted of a sexual assault at 13; the other, of an armed burglary at 16 and a probation violation at 17.

These are serious crimes and both young men must be held accountable. The question before the court is whether they should be held accountable in a way that takes into consideration their immaturity, lack of judgment, vulnerability to peer pressure, and - perhaps most important - their capacity for redemption, growth, and change. If the court strikes down life without parole for juveniles as unconstitutional, no offender would have an automatic right to parole release. Juvenile offenders would simply be given the opportunity to appear before a parole board and make the case that they have changed and deserve another chance.

As I have seen in Haiti, in Rwanda, and in the other countries where I have lived - and in the prisons, squatter settlements, and cities, rich and poor, in which I’ve worked - people share certain innate human values. One of them is that children should be afforded greater care, protection, and forgiveness.

And when I return to the United States, I am reminded that a group of our children - some of them as young as 13 - are separated from their families and communities for the rest of their lives, even if they are later rehabilitated and no longer deemed to pose a threat to others.
Article 37 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child states that children must not be subjected to torture, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishments, including capital punishment or life imprisonment without the possibility of release. Only two nations in the world have not ratified this convention: Somalia and the United States. It is noteworthy that sentences of life without parole for juveniles were uncommon in the United States before the 1990s, a period of fear about a potential rise in juvenile crime that was based on data later proven false.

The United States stands apart from its European allies in perpetuating this violation of human rights. In Italy, the maximum sentence for a person under 18 for any crime is 24 years. In Germany, it is 10 years. In England and Wales, judges must impose a sentence that is roughly half the term that an adult would be given in the same circumstances. The English law is particularly instructive, given the historic ties between the two countries and the fact that American law is largely derived from England’s. In fact, the Eighth Amendment traces its roots to the Magna Carta.

There are those who argue that international laws and norms should have no bearing on how the United States decides to dispense justice. But having treated thousands of children all over the world, I can say with confidence that American children are not more vicious, less human, or less deserving of mercy and compassion than children in any other country. Every other nation in the world finds ways to hold young people accountable for their actions without sentencing them to languish in prison until they die. The United States must do the same for its children.

NPR talks about Michigan Court Appointed Criminal Defense System and Shows What a Mess the System IS!!

"Groups of lawyers and advocates have filed lawsuits in states from New York to Florida to Arizona charging that low-income people can't get a fair trial. Public defenders in Kansas and Minnesota are refusing cases outright.

In Michigan, the system has been broken for decades. Detroit public defenders face abysmal pay, unmanageable caseloads and flimsy oversight."

Listen to this story from All Things Considered on National Public Radio. It really illustrates how high caseloads affect lawyers who have good hearts, but no time or resources to do the job. The lawyer featured in the story doesn't get paid for telephone calls or letters to his clients and is only paid for one jail visit. So he has practically no communication with his in-custody clients. To see how this guy deals with and talks about his clients is shocking but then you wonder how anyone can keep their humanity in that system.

It was a good reminder to me that I work for my clients, not a system, and I owe my clients time and respect and sincere concern.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=111811319

Michigan House panel takes up juvenile lifer bills

DAVID EGGERT The Associated Press

(AP) — LANSING, Mich. - Michigan inmates locked up with mandatory life sentences for crimes committed before they turned 17 would get a chance at parole under legislation that triggered emotional testimony Wednesday in a packed House committee.

Supporters wore yellow T-shirts that stated, "Save the Children, Vote Second Chance." Opponents such as victims' families described horrific crimes committed by teens.

"Young people can be saved, not all of them," said Rep. Bert Johnson, a Highland Park Democrat and sponsor of one of the bills. "Some young people can in fact be saved."

But Greg King, whose daughter Karen was kidnapped from a grocery store, raped and murdered in Saginaw County in 1997 while home for the holidays from Michigan State University, opposed giving the parole board an opportunity to free one of her killers.

"Criminals need to know, no matter how old they are, they will be punished to the full extent of the law," King said as his wife, Linda, wiped away tears. Karen King's killers were a 15-year-old and his 25-year-old cousin who had been released on parole.

Michigan does not allow parole for juveniles tried as adults and convicted of premeditated murder or felony murder-a killing committed during the commission of a felony.

The legislation would give current inmates who committed their offenses before age 17 parole eligibility after serving 15 years. The parole board would not have to release them, though. Future offenders under 17 also could no longer get life with no chance of parole under the bills.

The Democratic-led House Judiciary Committee is expected to vote May 27 after hearing more testimony on that date. Similar legislation was passed by the House late last legislative session but is expected to hit opposition in the Republican-controlled Senate if it clears the House this time around.

On one side of the debate Wednesday were groups such as the American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan along with relatives of juvenile offenders serving mandatory life without parole. On the other side were victims' families and prosecutors.

Advocates said juveniles are not as mature as adults but unfairly receive the same punishment for crimes committed before they are old enough to vote. Michigan is one of 11 states to automatically consider 17-year-olds adults for criminal purposes.

Paul Stankewitz, public policy associate for the Michigan Catholic Conference, said juveniles should at least get a chance later in life to prove they are worthy of release.

"Michigan is failing to promote genuine rehabilitation," he said.

Jennifer Bishop-Jenkins, a co-founder of the National Organization of Victims of Juvenile Lifers, said the legislation has re-traumatized victims' families who were promised the perpetrators would never be freed. She said the criminals still get to live and see their loved ones who visit them in prison.

Victims "don't get second chances," said Bishop-Jenkins, whose sister, her sister's husband and their baby were killed by a 16-year-old in Illinois in 1990.

She said lawmakers should focus on prospective measures and not make proposals that would be retroactive and disrupt the lives of victims' families. She noted that Gov. Jennifer Granholm already has the power to commute a life sentence.

A 2005 study by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International showed Michigan had the second-highest rate of imposing life sentences without parole on juveniles.

Michigan has at least 158 prisoners sentenced to life without parole for crimes committed before they turned 17, according to ACLU research. At least 32 were sentenced for felony murder regardless of whether they pulled the trigger, leading critics to argue there is not enough case-by-case flexibility for children tried as adults.

Lack of Indigent Defense Funding Leads to Wrongful Convictions

An editorial in Sunday’s Detroit Free Press points to role of the state’s small budget for indigent criminal defense in convicting the innocent and driving up state costs further down the line – in wrongful conviction lawsuits and in prison overcrowding. 

A robust and efficient indigent defense system will save money by reducing wrongful-conviction lawsuits, making sure poor defendants don't get unjustifiably long sentences, and keeping innocent people out of prison. Each person wrongfully incarcerated costs Michigan taxpayers $35,000 a year. Moreover, when innocent people are convicted, the guilty remain at large. Getting it right at trial is especially important in Michigan's current judicial climate, in which appellate courts practically rubber-stamp criminal convictions.

…"In theory, truth emerges when two equal adversaries — with equal resources — battle it out in the courtroom," said F. Martin Tieber, an East Lansing appellate attorney and former deputy director of the State Appellate Defender Office. "That's the basis of our justice system. With Michigan's abysmal public defense system, however, it often doesn't work that way. Innocent people are convicted, and other people are convicted of more serious offenses than they should be, leading to longer sentences. It creates a lot of unnecessary spending on prisons."

Read the full editorial here. (Detroit Free Press, 03/08/2009)

Bad lawyering is a leading cause of wrongful conviction nationwide. Three people have been exonerated by DNA testing in Michigan to date, and there are countless others seeking to overturn convictions for crimes they say they didn’t commit. 

The case of Eddie Joe Lloyd is a prime example of the failure of the state’s indigent defense system to protect the innocent. Lloyd’s court-appointed attorney withdrew from his case eight days before his scheduled 1985 trial, but the trial wasn’t postponed. The new appointed attorney never met with the previous attorney, called no defense witnesses and gave a five minute closing argument. Lloyd was convicted and spent 17 years in prison for a murder he didn’t commit before DNA testing proved his innocence.

Campaign for Justice Michigan Kicks off today

The Campaign for Justice is the attempt to improve or fix the broken criminal defense system in Michigan.  The system was review recently and was one of the worst in the country.  The State of Michigan has neglected its constitutional duty to people in the criminal justice system for decades and it has resulted in the conviction of innocent people.

Public defense system

 fails taxpayers, communities and the accused
Statewide coalition launches push to reform Michigan’s public

 defense system

LANSING – A broad-based nonpartisan coalition of organizations and individuals from across the political spectrum was launched today and announced it will begin a campaign to win long-overdue reforms to Michigan’s failing system of public defense services for adults and children.

 The Michigan Campaign for Justice also unveiled a Michigan Report Card on Public Defense, based on a 2008 study commissioned by the legislature. The report card echoes the study's finding that the Michigan system is failing its citizens in every significant measure.

Laura Sager, director of the Campaign for Justice, told reporters at a morning press conference that "the Campaign coalition's mission is to win legislation that both ensures adequate state funding for Michigan’s public defense system and implements and enforces minimum national standards." She noted that these crucial reforms are needed to:

• Improve cost effectiveness and increase government efficiency;
• Protect the public safety; and,
• Secure Michigan residents’ constitutional right to effective defense representation for both adults and children.

“Our current public defense system is inefficient and fails to provide the constitutional right of

 effective defense representation for our citizens - both adults and children,” said Sager. “Duplication in administrative costs, the cost of retrying cases due to error, increased jail and prison costs and taxpayer-funded settlements of costly wrongful conviction lawsuits all reduce the effective use of scarce taxpayer dollars.”

Currently, public defense attorneys responsible for delivering on the constitutional promise of effective defense representation are laboring in a system that does not allow the time or provide the essential resources required. That drives up the cost of the entire criminal justice system and carries an unacceptable fiscal and human cost.

"The crisis of a failing public defense system requires immediate action by the legislature to

 provide state funding and to put a system in place that meets at least minimum national standards for vital and constitutionally-mandated public defense service," said Sager.

Last June, the State Bar of Michigan and the National Legal Aid and Defender Association (NLADA) released the results of an intensive study of Michigan’s public defense system that services adults and children facing criminal or delinquency proceedings who cannot afford their own attorney. The study was commissioned by the State legislature.

Michigan is one of only a handful of states with no state funding and no statewide standards for monitoring of trial level public defense services. Neither are there standards for attorney performance, eligibility or workloads.

"Reform is long overdue,” said John Shea, of the Criminal Defense Attorneys of Michigan. “The decades of towering caseloads, a dire lack of resources, inconsistent training and no statewide requirement for or enforcement of prompt appointment of competent counsel needs

 to come to an end. Defense attorneys can play an important role in preventing wrongful convictions, ensuring measured and appropriate sanctions for those whom are guilty and in reducing recidivism, but only if we have a state funded structure that implements state and national standards for effective public defense systems"

A new Michigan Report Card on Public Defense was released today. The report card, based on the NLADA’s findings, paints a bleak picture of Michigan’s performance in meeting its constitutional responsibilities as outlined in the Sixth Amendment.
Of the 11 Principles of a Public Defense Delivery System, established by the State Bar of Michigan, Michigan received a grade of “F” in five areas, a “D” in five other areas and a “C” in the one remaining area.

“I can testify first hand to the tragic impact our current failing system can have,” Walter Swift

 said. “As a result of the system's failures, my family and I lost 26 years of my life in prison for a crime I did not commit. The man who actually committed the crime I was convicted of went free.”

The push for reform has attracted a broad-based coalition of supporters.

“We have a moral responsibility to ensure that those in our society with limited or no resources receive the same standard of justice as those who are better off. Everyone is

 entitled to equal treatment under the law,” said James Muffett, president of Citizens for Traditional Values.

Judge Fred Borchard of the 10th Circuit Court and President of the Michigan Judges Association, said: “The problems in our current system need to be fixed. The Michigan Judges Association believes there is a real need for state funding, as opposed to 83 counties each running their own system, and continued education or certification for counsel for indigent

 defendants.”

Richard McLellan, a board member of the Mackinac Center, advisor to former Governor John Engler and consultant to the Campaign for Justice, concluded: “We currently spend $2 billion a year on prisons. By taking common sense steps to ensure a system that will provide residents with an adequate legal defense, not only do we have an opportunity to do the right thing by keeping innocent men and women out of jail, we also have an opportunity to avoid wasting millions.”

The Campaign for Justice and its coalition members are meeting with lawmakers of both parties to discuss options for reforming the state’s public defense system.

To find out more about the Campaign, visit: www.michigancampaignforjustice.org.

This is the report card given the criminal justice system in Michigan in a study you can read here.

The exoneration is not the end of the story

This is from the Dallas News.  The county where Dallas is has had more DNA exonerations than most states.

Getting innocent people out of prison is just the start.  Most have lots of problems adjusting to the world.  They have trouble getting work and often have major health care issues.  Compensation of those who are wrongly convicted including health care is the responsible thing to do.

Beyond this changing the system so that the problems that cause wrongful convictions can be fixed is an absolute priority.  

Taping interrogations and improving procedures for eye witness identification are fairly cheap fixes that would go a long way to fixing the system.

In addition, the prosecutors and police who actively cause wrongful convictions by hiding or fabricating evidence should be prosecuted.  Currently the laws mostly give them immunity for their actions.

Editorial: Punish those who wrongfully convict

Timothy Cole died in prison an innocent man, victimized by a gross miscarriage of justice. Although a judge in Austin cleared Cole's name last week, work still awaits the Legislature to ensure that such a travesty never occurs again.Like most of the 32 other wrongfully convicted men in Texas who were subsequently cleared, Cole was black. He was attending Texas Tech in 1985 when fellow student Michelle Mallin was raped. Prosecutors had another strong suspect in the case, Jerry Wayne Johnson, a black man already charged in two other rapes. But they kept that information from Mallin and disregarded it as they constructed a case against Cole. He received a 25-year prison sentence.

Multiple witnesses testified that Cole was in an apartment studying when the attack occurred. Substantial physical evidence linked Johnson to the attack, but absolutely none pointed to Cole. Police did not put Johnson in a lineup or even present his photo to Mallin. Believing authorities' assertions that they had other evidence pointing to Cole's guilt, she mistakenly identified him as the attacker.

Johnson confessed in 1995, and DNA tests proved that he did it. But Lubbock authorities, including prosecutor Jim Bob Darnell, ignored the confession. They let Cole languish in prison until he died in 1999, at age 39.

Justice was never served in the case. Prosecutors decided on Cole's guilt long before they had a case against him. They used racial stereotypes to sway Mallin and to convince the all-white jury to disregard Cole's black witnesses. Those authorities have never answered for their actions.

State Sen. Rodney Ellis of Houston is introducing two bills this session to tighten lineup-identification procedures and require the recording of suspect interrogations. Another pending bill would boost compensation for victims of wrongful convictions. Lawmakers should also seriously consider a proposal supported by Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins and the Texas Innocence Project to criminalize the withholding of exculpatory evidence in cases such as Cole's.

The shame should forever haunt Darnell and his cohorts for the injustice they committed. For others who follow, the prospect of criminal prosecution should chill their conviction-at-all-costs enthusiasm.

In Michigan the two cases that the Cooley Innocence Project has been involved in both involved bad actions by prosecutors.  One is now a judge and the other is a prosecutor in a different county.  No costs to stealing 10 years each from Ken and Nathaniel.

Archbishop Akinola and Ann Coulter both attack single moms

Odd bedfellows to be sure Coulter and Akinola,

Mark Harris points out a section of Archbishop Akinola's Christmas letter that contains this

"In our time, we have seen a frightening development as homes break down and children have to be raised by either of the parents. It is becoming fashionable as people take pride in being single parents. If by death a partner is snatched away, this is understandable. We pray for people of such experience that they will be comforted. But there are some men in our society who are utterly irresponsible with carefree attitude and who will not pay attention to their children; likewise are the so called societal ladies, the feminists: the “what can any husband do to me”, the ‘I can survive on my own’ – these too have little or nothing to offer our younger generation in morals or values."

Ann Coulter on the Today show and in her new book which I have not read says things like

Coulter was promoting her newest book, "Guilty: Liberal "Victims" and Their Assault on America," when, during an interview with Matt Lauer, she blamed the majority of society's ills on single mothers. She claims that the "liberal media" exalts the single mom, despite the fact that -- her words, not mine -- most teenage mothers, runaways, murderers and rapists can be traced back to them.

Hard to know why this is the international talking point lately.  Remember Dan Quayle attacking Murphy Brown, a tv character, for having a child.  

There are many single moms who are in over their head and those kids are overrepresented in crime and dropout statistics.  but very few of them planned to be single moms.  Almost none of them got pregnant for the purpose of raising a kid alone.  Most ended up raising the kid alone because the father took off.  That part of the Archbishop's statement I can agree with.  But attacking single moms who already have the hardest job around seems pretty petty.  Not to mention that if we had some decent social programs in this country these moms might get some of the help they need to manage their kids.  

The School to Prison pipeline had been well publicises and it is clear the system is largely stacked against kids who in poverty especially black young men.  Again not the fault of single moms.

 

It Happens here is the proof

Innocence People Do Go to Prison

Here are some of the faces of people who spent time in prison when they were innocent.  13 so far this year.  See the New York Innocence Project Blog for more information on these and the other over 200 DNA exonerations.

Freed in 2008

So far this year, 13 people around the United States have been exonerated by DNA testing after serving more than 200 combined years in prison for crimes they didn’t commit. At least 10 more people have been cleared by DNA but are waiting for their exonerations to become official.

Here are the stories of those exonerated so far in 2008:

Michael Blair was convicted and sentenced to death in Texas based on improper forensic testimony and several eyewitness misidentifications. He served nearly 14 years on Texas death row for a murder he didn’t commit.

Kennedy Brewer was sentenced to death in 1995 for a child murder he didn’t commit. He was freed when DNA testing secured by the Innocence Project led to the identity of the real perpetrator. His exoneration also led to critical reforms on handling evidence and state oversight for autopsies.

Dean Cage was exonerated by DNA testing in Chicago after spending 12 years in prison for a rape he didn’t commit.

Charles Chatman served 27 years in Texas prison for a rape he didn’t commit before DNA testing secured by the Innocence Project of Texas set him free.

Nathaniel Hatchett was 17 years old when he was arrested for a carjacking and rape he didn’t commit. He served 10 years in Michigan before he was cleared. Nathaniel was freed by the Cooley Innocence Project where I work.  Here is a picture of Nathaniel while in prison.

Arthur Johnson spent 16 years in Mississippi prison for a rape he didn’t commit before DNA testing won by the Innocence Project New Orleans led to his release.

Rickey Johnson served 25 years in Louisiana prison for a rape he didn’t commit before the Innocence Project secured DNA testing that proved his innocence. The test results pointed to the identity of a Louisiana inmate who was convicted of committing another rape in the same neighborhood after Johnson was convicted.

Robert McClendon was exonerated by DNA in August in a joint project between the Ohio Innocence Project and the Columbus Dispatch. He spent 17 years in Ohio prison for a crime he didn’t commit before he was cleared.

Thomas McGowan served 23 years in Texas prison for a rape he didn’t commit before DNA testing obtained by the Innocence Project proved his innocence. He was convicted based on a faulty identification procedure.

Steven Phillips was exonerated in October after serving more than two decades in Texas prison for a series of rapes he didn’t commit. DNA testing obtained on Phillips’ behalf by the Innocence Project pointed to the identity of the real perpetrator of the crime.

Ronnie Taylor was convicted in 1993 of a rape he didn’t commit based on faulty forensic tests at the troubled Houston crime lab. His exoneration became official in January, just days after he married his longtime fiancee Jeanette Brown. The couple now lives in Atlanta.

Patrick Waller served more than 15 years in Texas prison for a rape he didn’t commit. He is the 21st person cleared by DNA testing in Dallas County.

Joseph White, exonerated in November, was the first person cleared by DNA testing in Nebraska history. His five co-defendants are awaiting pardons from the governor in order to be fully exonerated.

CopBusters turn the tables

The work of the Innocence Project has definitively proved that the system does not work and that there are crocked cops and prosecutors. The nice thing about this is they are not doing anything illegal and they show the cops for what they are.  Police are not allowed to enter a home without a warrant or a warrant exception.  Here they claimed they had a warrant.  How did they get the probable cause for the warrant?  They probably became suspicious because they did something illegal to find out that the home was using grow lights and then lied on the warrant to get it signed by the judge.  I think being a cop is one of the hardest jobs in the world.  There are a lot of officers who do it legally and with respect for the people they serve.  Copbusters and this post is not about them.  It is about the officers who become a law unto themselves and take short cuts.  Short cuts get people hurt or killed and end up putting innocent people in prison.

Linking the work of the Innocence Project and the Death Penalty

One of the things that hasn't happened as much or as quickly as it should is that the Death Penalty should be abolished because the Innocence Project cases show the failures of the system. Testimony in Maryland tried to make this link. Read it all. From a story in the Washington Post found here

Innocence Project Co-Director Barry Scheck testified before the panel in
September, telling members that states with capital punishment risk executing
the innocent because the root causes of wrongful convictions have not been
remedied. DNA exoneree Kirk Bloodsworth also testified, telling the panel that he is “living proof that Maryland gets it wrong.”

FOIA absuses

The Cooley Innocence Project like all innocence projects use FOIA the Freedom of Information Act to obtain documents from the government about the cases they are looking into. FOIA us nearly universally ignored by government agencies and they often only reluctantly turn over information and then often don't provide complete information. This article documents abuses in Illinois.

From here

Our Opinion: FOIA needs reform -- now


THE STATE JOURNAL-REGISTER
Posted Nov 12, 2008 @ 12:07 AM
Last update Nov 12, 2008 @ 07:05 AM
HOW MANY STORIES have to be written about Illinois’ broken Freedom of Information Act before Attorney General Lisa Madigan proposes an overhaul?
The latest examples of FOIA abuse can be found in State Journal-Register reporter Bruce Rushton’s Sunday story about Sangamon County Sheriff Neil Williamson charging the Downstate Illinois Innocence Project $700 for audio and video recordings.
The group wants recordings of police interviews with Donald “Goose” Johnston, whose testimony helped convict Thomas McMillen of murdering Melissa Koontz in 1989.
WILLIAMSON CLAIMED that State’s Attorney John Schmidt’s office advised him that he could charge that much, but an attorney with Schmidt’s office said Williamson “may be somewhat misinformed on that issue because I did not discuss amounts and how much it should be.”
No doubt embarrassed by the public attention drawn to this outrage, Williamson has cut the cost to the Innocence Project to $37.78.But apparently that rate will only apply to people who are savvy enough to cite the law. Chief Deputy Tony Sacco told us that those who mention FOIA in their request will get documents at actual reproduction cost while those who don’t will continue to be charged the standard fee. In the case of the Innocence Project, that totaled $50 per CD and $25 per cassette tape.
We’re concerned that it’s this hard for a police agency to understand the one part of FOIA that’s pretty clear. Does the sheriff think he’s operating a used-car lot over there? Mention the FOIA law and get 94 percent off your next documents request! What a bargain!
Agencies cannot just charge whatever they feel like. State law bars them from charging to compile information. It only allows charging for the actual cost of reproducing the records.
THE INNOCENCE PROJECT has also been trying to obtain evidence for two years from the Illinois State Police in the murder of Karyn Slover. It wants records on an unidentified fingerprint found inches from the blood of Slover. Slover’s husband and his parents were convicted of murdering her in 1996.
State police claim the group can get the records through a court order. The Innocence Project argues it should not have to go to court every time it wants a record.
We make no judgment on the merits of the cases being reviewed by the Innocence Project, but we agree that it should not take a court order to get the records.
Therein lies the problem. The General Assembly has gummed up the FOIA law with so many exemptions, it’s nearly impossible to interpret with any clarity which records are subject to it.
The attorney general has received some well-deserved accolades for her work trying to open up government under the current law. Her public-access office, designed to help citizens get access to public records, was a welcome innovation — five years ago.
A LOT OF TIME has passed since then. It’s been six years since Madigan campaigned on a promise to reform the law. It’s been 19 months since this newspaper’s award-winning series, “Request Denied,” showed how the public — not just pesky newspaper reporters — is not being served by a toothless and loophole-laden law. It’s been 14 months since Madigan told the Illinois Press Association, “Let me be clear: I am committed to legislatively reforming the Freedom of Information Act.”
We can’t help but notice the calendar. Campaigns for the 2010 gubernatorial election are starting up, and Madigan is oft-mentioned as a candidate. Other than President-elect Barack Obama, she is the state’s most popular politician and has a bank full of political capital to spend. It also can’t hurt that her father is the state House speaker.
Hopefully, Madigan intends to propose something in the next legislative session before trying to climb the political ladder. Because it would be hard to believe a promise from Madigan that she would fix the law as governor after doing nothing legislatively for six years.

Michigan criminal JustUs system fails youth and minorities

From here

Detroit News story on how bad the Michigan Criminal JustUs (Justice) system is failing minorities.

"Michigan youth are arrested for violent crimes less often, but locked up more frequently than kids in other states"

"minority youths locked up at triple the rate of their white counterparts"

"Among the measures that worsened for Michigan children between 2000-06 were the percentage of low birth weight babies and children living in families where no parent has full-time, year-round employment.

Child poverty also increased across the nation but in Michigan, the rate was five times higher than the rest of the nation."

The system is broken

Death Penalty proponents keep saying show me a person who was innocence who was killed. Well here is another one. DNA tests and a confession by the person who committed the crime show clearly that Johnny Frank Garrett didn't commit the murder he was convicted and executed for.

Some key quotes form the article:

"a death-penalty obsessed district attorney and his lap-dog medical examiner, ladder-climbing cops, bloodthirsty media, enraged and fearful jurors, incompetent defense attorneys, politicized judges, witch-hunting religious zealots and an iron-fisted governor with national ambitions melded together as perfect ingredients for a plate of government sponsored murder.”

“The judges aren’t going to change the law. What we have to do is get more people to examine the way they feel about the death penalty, and make them realize we don’t always get it right. There aren’t enough safety nets to protect the innocent. So we have to get them to change their mind about the death penalty.”

Still think the death penalty is a good idea?