Project Innocence has been operating as a counter-balance against a justice system that is completely insane. In the federal prison system, only about 4% of the people are there for violent crimes. The Ohio Project Innocence recently won a victory that resulted in the release of three men who were wrongfully imprisoned for crimes they did not commit. One of these men, by the name of Ricky Jackson, now holds the record for the longest amount of time wrongfully imprisoned – 39 years.
In 1975, Ricky Jackson and two other young black men were charged and convicted for the murder of a white businessman in Cleveland. The sole evidence against Ricky was testimony provided by an alleged eyewitness, who was 12 at the time. Ricky has since met that child, who is now a man today. He has bluntly stated that he feels no anger towards him. Jackson understands the system – how witnesses are typically rehearsed and coerced, becoming a victim of the system themselves.
The witnesses who suffers the most are women. When I ran the law library in MCC, I could not be there when the women were present. Yet, they had no one to ask questions. They would have to write their questions and I would answer them. I was horrified at what the government did to them. The women were routinely threatened, told that if they did not do or say what the prosecutor demanded, their children would be put up for adoption and never seen again.
In a prosecution of Italians, this one guy subpoenaed his own phone calls from prison which are all taped. By mistake, they gave him is co-defendant who had turned out to be a “rat”. I listened to the tape where the prosecutor was telling the rat that he needed him to testify against someone else as well. The rat said he did not know that person. The prosecutor replied, “Don’t worry, by the time I am done with you, you will know him like he’s your brother.” Judge Kaplan received the tape, and ruled it irrelevant for that was a different case, even though it was the same rat testifying against him. You quickly realize, nothing is real and the press supports the system for they just regurgitate whatever the government tells them.
The system is now “just us”. It is a business where fresh lawyers look to make a name for themselves on the road to politics, following in the steps of Rudy Giuliani. Prisons are turning into private entities run for profit. Judges have been convicted for sending kids to prison to fill these operations for profit, as the prison gives kickbacks to the judges This became known as “kids for cash” as judges lined their pockets.
It is not hard to imagine that the people attracted to this system are far too often the worst possible human beings humanity can turn out. They would do anything to climb the ladder and have absolutely no feelings of guilt whatsoever. EVERY person I have met so far who was a former prosecutor looks at those in the private sector as having something they deserve. It is the same feeling that produces socialism/communism. So when they finally get into the private sector, they are the greediest and most dishonest people I have ever encountered. So far, I have met no exception.
This is part of the decline and fall of the United States. When there is no means to defend yourself or your property, the game is over – checkmate. Society cannot function when there is no means to address corruption. That is where the United States now stands. There is NO WAY to save the nation with a justice system that is so corrupt. It has become the mirror image of the corruption on Capitol Hill.
