That was said in 1765, I think we are regressing. Power hungry police and prosecutors are getting worse. They only care about making arrests and getting convictions, innocence doesn't matter. I am surprised that the prosecutor was actually charged and then convicted.
How inmate Michael Morton lost 25 years of his life
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Re: How inmate Michael Morton lost 25 years of his life
#22Re: How inmate Michael Morton lost 25 years of his life
#23Earlier quoted context omitted.
I bet there were people who campaigned for the innocent man to be executed based on exactly this state of mind.
I don't see the equivalency. The prosecutor abused his official position and the legal system to personally advance his career. If anything, we should hold our officials and authorities to even harsher standards to ensure equitable treatment under the law.
You can only hold a prosecutor to a "perfect standard" if they have the power to ruin a person's life through self-interest. That perfect standard should only be enforced the other way as well in the circumstance that they do something wrong on this scale.
These positions attract people who wish to be wealthy or powerful. This might not be the case if they have to live up to their own standards.
Examples should be made of both sides.
Re: How inmate Michael Morton lost 25 years of his life
#24Slightly (only slightly) off-topic: what is it going to take for us to see a complete or at least large overhaul of the justice system in the US? We're incarcerating too many people for minor crimes and it is causing a ripple effect on poverty and economic growth (not to mention ruining TONS of people's lives).
Re: How inmate Michael Morton lost 25 years of his life
#25Slightly (only slightly) off-topic: what is it going to take for us to see a complete or at least large overhaul of the justice system in the US? We're incarcerating too many people for minor crimes and it is causing a ripple effect on poverty and economic growth (not to mention ruining TONS of people's lives).
Re: How inmate Michael Morton lost 25 years of his life
#26Earlier quoted context omitted.
I don't see the equivalency. The prosecutor abused his official position and the legal system to personally advance his career. If anything, we should hold our officials and authorities to even harsher standards to ensure equitable treatment under the law.
If anything, we should fix the systems that allow miscarriages of justice like this to happen. Yet revenge seems to be the first motivation of most people. Making things worse instead of making things better.
Our motivation to not do things is driven by consequences.
When the balance of power exists so that those who determine consequences for people can do so out of self-interest, they need to be held up to the same standards and face equal consequences themselves.
The prosecutor should have a sentence passed against him to ensure others do not follow suit with "$500 and 500 hours community service, oh and I can still be a legal consultant for a corporation - I can accept that risk for some gain"...
Re: How inmate Michael Morton lost 25 years of his life
#27Earlier quoted context omitted.
I bet there were people who campaigned for the innocent man to be executed based on exactly this state of mind.
I don't see the equivalency. The prosecutor abused his official position and the legal system to personally advance his career. If anything, we should hold our officials and authorities to even harsher standards to ensure equitable treatment under the law.
Other people were certain, after reading some newspaper articles, that Michael Morton murdered his wife because she would not submit to him sexually, and the most important thing to them was that he be punished more severely. Their slogan: "an eye for an eye".
See the similarity now?
Re: How inmate Michael Morton lost 25 years of his life
#28What can we do as individuals and as a society to improve the Justice system and help rehabilitate former criminals? This is an area where we should also have start-ups looking to make a better tomorrow. Isn't that also part of "Changing The World"?
Re: How inmate Michael Morton lost 25 years of his life
#29Earlier quoted context omitted.
If anything, we should fix the systems that allow miscarriages of justice like this to happen. Yet revenge seems to be the first motivation of most people. Making things worse instead of making things better.
We should, but part of fixing the system that allows these things to happen is penalizing "bad actors." The prosecutor hid evidence from the judge, not just the defense. In addition, a brutal murderer is still free among the populace. What if they've killed again in the interim?
The prosecutor should have that on his shoulders as well.