A Thankful Thanksgiving

Jonathan Montgomery was released in time to spend Thanksgiving with his family for the first time in four years. He was convicted of molesting a 10-year old girl in 2008. Jonathan maintained his innocence throughout his four year incarceration in a Virginia state prison, saying that the assault never happened. His accuser recanted her story admitting she made up the accusations when her parents caught her looking at pornography. 

Click here to read the article in the Huffington Post.

California Leads In Wrongful Convictions

The California Wrongful Convictions Project, launched by the University of California, Berkeley, School of Law (Berkeley Law) and Hollway Advisory Services, a criminal justice research firm, announced findings in preliminary data that show California has thrown out more than 200 wrongful convictions since 1989, more than any other state. The cost is calculated at $129 million, however, this total only includes the cost to the state and does not include the cost paid by the wrongfully convicted and their families to repeatedly defend themselves against the state. These innocent individuals have collectively spent 1,313 years behind bars for crimes they did not commit. Some of these wrongful convictions were determined to be inadvertent mistakes but horrifyingly others were deliberate misconduct.

Click here to read more.

When Jurors Are Wrong

What happens with jurors when they wrongfully convict an innocent person? In this heartbreaking story from NPR two jurors talk about their thoughts and feelings about convicting an innocent 20 year old man.

Click here to read or listen the full story on NPR.

The 3 Strikes Debacle

Californians have a chance to correct a mistake made back in 1994 when their 3 strikes law was passed. 72% of voters passed a law that seemed like a way to keep people safe from violent, habitual offenders. The "3 strikes and your out" law was supposed to be used if a person convicted of a felony had also committed two or more violent or serious crimes. They would be sentenced to life in prison with no parol until they have served many years of their sentence, usually about 25 years. Unfortunately, reality has become very different, as shown when a man was given 25 years for stealing a tool kit from WalMart.

Click here to read more and to view an interview with a judge.

Torturing Our Children

What defines child abuse is a question we need to be asking. A 16 year old girl being held in solitary confinement for 22 hours a day for several months definitely fits the description. It should not only be considered abuse but outright torture. A report by the Human Rights Watch and the American Civil Liberties shows the widespread use of solitary confinement on children in US prisons.

Click here to read the full story.

If you would like to help change youth sentencing laws click here. 

Andre Davis Exonerated After 31 Years and 10 Months

It was the tenacity of one woman who needed to know the truth regarding her niece's death that led to the eventual exoneration of Andre Davis.

There had been two tragedies in Judi Stickel's family. Her brother was murdered and so was her niece. Her family believed for years that her brother was murdered by two of his friends. After doing research into why the two were never arrested, she learned the shocking truth - her brother accidentally killed himself. She was horrified that for years she believed these two men were guilty, when in fact they were innocent. This led her to want to learn about the facts about her niece's murder. The more she learned the more she believed they had the wrong man. Eventually, Judi began communicating with Andre and her belief in his innocence grew. She got Northwestern University's Center on Wrongful Convictions interested in Andre's case and they eventually proved Andre's innocence via DNA and won him his release.

To read the amazing story click here.

Handwriting Cases Under Review

This story first appeared in the Oregonian.

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — More than 30 Oregon criminal cases are under external review to determine if investigations were tainted by handwriting analysts employed by the Oregon State Police.

Problems with handwriting analysis in a Umatilla County case led to the suspension with pay of two analysts last spring. The head of the state police Forensic Services Division was reassigned.

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Exonerated from Death Row

“The 300th exoneration is an extraordinary event, and it couldn’t be more fitting that it’s an innocent man on death row who gave a false confession,” said Barry Scheck, a founder of the Innocence Project and one of the lawyers who worked on the case. “People have a very hard time with the concept that an innocent person could confess to a crime that they didn’t commit. But it happens a lot. It’s the ultimate risk that an innocent man could be executed.” from the Washington Post.

The Innocence Project Explained: Damon Thibodeaux is the 300th person to be exonerated with DNA evidence. Damon was sentenced to death for the New Orleans-area murder of his half-cousin Crystal Champagne based largely on his recanted confession. He spent 15 years in prison for the crime before his exoneration through DNA testing on September 28, 2012.

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