Monday, June 09, 2008

The Mechanics of a Wrongful Conviction

Two recent items regarding the possible conviction of innocent people deserve Grits readers' attention:

First, see Rev. Alan Bean's essay, "The Mechanics of a Wrongful Conviction," from the Friends of Justice blog, in which he compares the recent conviction of Alvin Clay in Arkansas, a case he's been closely following, to the Tulia cases and others Alan has worked on over the last decade. An interesting if opinionated read from a man on the front lines.

Meanwhile, in a death row case that may turn out to define "the mechanics of a wrongful conviction," check out this video from KXAN-TV (via the Texas Death Penalty Blog) regarding the recent conviction of a Georgetown police officer in Williamson County and its relation to the possible actual-innocence claims of current death-row resident Rodney Reed. If Reed's innocence claims pan out, it will uncover a web of police corruption that's pretty deep, not to mention an extensive official coverup aimed at pinning the case on an innocent man.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Not to nitpick, but it's The Mechanics of Wrongful Conviction. "Anatomy" implies something entirely different.

Gritsforbreakfast said...

Good point; since the phrase was a direct quote from Alan's headline I corrected it in the text and title, thank you. Just sloppy transcription on my part, then a replication of the original error. Fixed now.

Anonymous said...

Understandable, you're a prolific, enjoyable blogger.

That's why I'm here <3