Monday, August 31, 2009
Execution of the Innocent
Texas may very shortly become the first state to recognize that they have executed a legally and factually innocent person. This piece on the Cameron Todd Willingham case is long, and it's in the New Yorker, so you'll have to put up with those insufferable cartoons, but it's a fascinating and heartbreaking tale.
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4 comments:
Holy Shit. I just read this article and couldn't put it down, and at the end, I sobbed.
I'm soooooo angry right now it is not even funny.
It is a horrifying story. What makes it worse is the fact that we don't know how many other cases are like this, because almost no one ever goes back to re-investigate, especially once somebody's already been executed.
The line from the original arson investigator, that most of the cases he investigated were arson, was tragically absurd. Modern certainty strikes again.
A truly tragic story--twice. I hope people read it, and that it gives them reasonable doubt about the death penalty.
When I lived in Texas, I was disturbed by the frequency of executions there.
I couldn't believe this. What a tragedy.
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