Jackson Free Press

John Grisham says Haley Barbour should sign a moratorium on executions in Mississippi. "Absolutely. If I had my way, we'd stop all of them," Grisham said.

Innocent people are going to prison due to prosecutorial misconduct, junk science and even politics. Some are on death row. The state has probably executed the innocent already.

"It's a matter of time before we execute the wrong person. It's going to happen one of these days in this country. It's probably already happened," the best-selling author warned.

That was the dark, direct message Monday night at the Jackson Hilton. Grisham was there with fellow best-selling author and attorney Scott Turow to raise money for the Innocence Project, which is helping free innocent people around the country—people like Cedric Willis, who was freed in March 2006 after 12 years in Parchman for a murder that evidence showed all along that he did not commit.

Willis got a standing ovation Monday. "Y'all's money is going to a good cause," Willis told the packed ballroom. … We have a system that is putting innocent people away." He said that 12 years ago, prosecutors had evidence that would have exonerated him, but didn't heed it. He believes it's because "one of those elections was coming up." "I wonder how they feel now," Willis said of the people who sent him away. "I feel great."

But things weren't "great" for Willis who came of age in Parchman, after going when he was 18. He feared for his life every day, as Brian Johnson reported in his award-winning feature about Willis in the JFP last year.

Cedric pled for the audience to care about the innocent people in prison. "I hope nobody else has to wait 12 years," he said.

But, as Turow explained, many people just do not want to believe it's true. He spoke of a letter he got that said that it couldn't be true that innocent people are sitting in prisons and on death row; he also remembered a time when he didn't believe it was possible, either.

Turow talked about the "paradox of capital punishment" and how the "worst of the worst" cases push prosecutors and cops and judges to send up innocent people because they don't want to be wrong and turn murderers and rapists back onto the streets. So, instead of presuming that the defendant is innocence, as our Constitution requires, the overly diligent system often "shifts the burden of proof to the defendant," he said.

That means that innocent people are going to prison and, possibly, to the death chamber, egged on by "tough on crime" politicians and media (like The Clarion-Ledger's ghoulish delight every time the state executes someone).

In recent years, efforts like the Innocence Project are forcing re-examinations of convictions. And real science is helping to clear many inmates. To date, there have been 208 post-conviction DNA exonerations in the U.S. Of those, 125 were African American, 58 white, 19 Latino, 1 Asian American and five of unknown race. In 77 of those cases, the true perpetrators have been identified.

The first of those DNA exonerations came in 1989. Thus, we can make one of two assumptions: No innocent person was executed before 1989. Or: One, two or many innocent people were killed by the state before science caught up with the barbaric habit.

Common sense argues for the second. In this state, we know well how unfair our criminal-justice system has always been. But many so-called thinkers reject the idea that any innocent person has ever been executed—or that one ever will be under our current system.

Turow, though, considers such an argument a "canard."

"Once a defendant is dead, there is no legal vehicle to test-proof in a courtroom, so the people like Justice Scalia who like to say there has never been proof that an innocent man has been executed, that's a game. That really is a canard. They know darn well there's no way to prove it in a courtroom."

In his state of Illinois, Turow said, 18 condemned people have been exonerated. "You know when the numbers are like that that somebody who's gone to the death chamber claiming his or her innocence genuinely was."

The question is: Do we care?

"We cannot build or tolerate a criminal-justice system that condemns innocent people," Turow said. "We can't call it that."

The saddest part is that there are likely others sitting in prisons around the country who can't get anyone to pay attention to them. They are innocent, and nobody gives a damn.

That is immoral. Even if you don't believe that "Thou Shalt Not Kill" also applies to state employees executing convicted criminals, as I do, it's hard to argue that it doesn't at least mean, "Thou Shalt Not Kill Innocent Humans."

The Innocence Project is willing and able to fight the good fight on society's behalf. The New Orleans Innocence Project stepped in and saved Cedric Willis, even though they weren't officially working in Mississippi at the time.

"We got loads of letters from Mississippi," Emily Maw said Monday.

Now we have our own Innocence Project in Mississippi—the state that may well need it the most, with our historic bloodlust and collective apathy over how the accused are treated. It's headquartered at Ole Miss, and has virtually no overhead. Nearly every dime goes to helping the innocent, and saving society's soul.

As I sat listening to Willis, and Grisham, and Turow, and Maw, last night, I had a vision of thousands of checks flowing into the Innocence Project office in Oxford—a real-life Welcome Wagon, of sorts. Some of them are for $5, others for $10, others for $100 or more. Maybe there are even some $1 bills that fall out of envelopes up in Rebel country.

Friends, this is the statement we need to make as a people. We must take a moral stand and help free—and, thus, expose to the world—wonderful people filled with potential and love like my friend Cedric Willis. We need to send the message with our dollars that we care about justice—the real kind, not some kind of political salivating that disregards humanity and the need for members of society to take care of, and honor, one another.

When Cedric was in prison, his mama kept praying for justice for her boy. "It's coming, it's coming," she kept promising him. He believed her then, and I believe her now.

Send donations to Mississippi Innocence Project, P.O. Box 1848, University, MS, 38677-1848. Visit their website for more information.

Previous Comments

ID

75484

Comment

Too many people would rather turn a blind eye to all the injustice taking place in our community. It's hard for us to believe that people we trust to protect us can be corrupt or in some cases merely human, concerned about their own well-being rather than others. This effort should be lauded for confronting the substantial implications of those actions. Maybe we can't convince everyone to open their eyes, but we can save lives.

Author

Lindsey

Date

2007-10-25T08:41:37-06:00

ID

75485

Comment

Great article, you make me less ashamed of the state where I was born and raised. If we only had more like minded people...all across this country. Sadly, for such a "Christian" nation, I think most people just don't care about the suffering of others.

Author

FreeClif

Date

2007-10-25T09:03:16-06:00

ID

75486

Comment

Great editor's note! Due to the fact that people are human beings and human beings are not perfect people, I believe it's for that reason (among others) there should be no death penalty. I do believe that the overwhelming majority of those behind bars are guilty of their crimes, but there is always a number of prisoners who are innocent. Just think back a few years ago when students at Northwestern University investigated a number of Illinois inmates on death row and discovered that thirteen of them were innocent. That eventually led to then-Governor George Ryan to commute all death sentences to life in prison. There's also a story on cnn.com about a man spending 22 years behind bars for a rape he didn't commit. Not only do I believe there are some innocent men on death row all across this country, but I do believe that there may've been some already executed. We can't allow an imperfect system to mete the ultimate justice.

Author

golden eagle

Date

2007-10-25T12:59:22-06:00

ID

75487

Comment

I see where Scott Turow said 18 inmates in Illinois were exonerated. The link I provided was in 2003, but I don't know if the numbers Turow updated were as a result of the Northwestern students' investigation. Also to add, even though innocent men and women are spending time behind prison walls, when evidence comes to light that they are innocent, at least the prisoners are usually still alive and we can at least apologize to them for the injustice brought upon them. But what would've happened if Illinois or any state would have executed even one of the innocents? Then how could we justify keeping capital punishment?

Author

golden eagle

Date

2007-10-25T13:09:31-06:00

ID

75488

Comment

American Bar Association urging freeze on all executions in the U.S.

Author

golden eagle

Date

2007-10-29T10:11:46-06:00

ID

75489

Comment

All, speaking of Eaves' prayer crusade, let's all say a little one for the souls of the state of as state employees kill another accused murderer today. Have mercy on our souls.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-10-30T16:46:27-06:00

ID

75490

Comment

See, prayer works. When will we learn that you can't avenge inhumanity with inhumanity?

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-10-30T17:36:05-06:00

ID

75491

Comment

Right on schedule; wonder how far behind Eaves' regret-statement is: STATEMENT OF GOVERNOR HALEY BARBOUR ON THE UNITED STATES SUPREME COURT’S RULING IN THE EARL WESLEY BERRY CASE OCTOBER 30, 2007 The United States Supreme Court’s ruling is extremely disappointing. The real inhumanity in this case is that the life of an innocent woman, Mary Bounds of Houston, Mississippi, was taken 20 years ago, and now justice has been delayed again. My thoughts and prayers continue to be with her family and friends who are suffering through this injustice.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-10-30T17:38:52-06:00

ID

75492

Comment

Re prayer working - well, some prayers work for some people and others don't for others. What helps far more, I'd say, is direct action, media publicity, write-in-campaigns, etc. - e.g., tangible, visible acts. As Bob Dylan pointed out years ago, both sides in battles always believe they have God on their side: http://bobdylan.com/songs/withgod.html What makes the difference, however, seems to be firepower, strength of armies, strategy, terrain, weather and other factors. Just for the record, though, I have nothing against prayer, simply believe it should be a private matter with no place in public school classrooms, led by students or teachers or anyone else. What bothers me about the death penalty is that I believe innocent men and women are often railroaded through our 'justice' system and not listened to when they protest their innocence, that there is often a rush to judge then execute. Once they're behind bars, the legal establishment could care less in most cases.

Author

lucdix

Date

2007-10-30T18:06:47-06:00

ID

75493

Comment

I posted 20 minutes before he was to be executed, lucdix. All that was left was prayer. I didn't used to put much stock in prayer. I must say that I've changed on that point. And I'm not proselytizing by any minds; prayer can take many forms, and it's not about any particular religion. I couldn't agree with you more about the government keeping its hand off how we worship or believe, though. As for the death penalty, just read above. Mississippi has executed innocent people, I have no doubt. The risk of killing an innocent person alone is reason enough not to be the only so-called "civilized" nation that indulges in this barbaric practice to so folks like Sid Salter can enjoy the idea of someone "riding the needle."

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-10-30T18:20:42-06:00

ID

75494

Comment

The United States Supreme Court’s ruling is extremely disappointing. The real inhumanity in this case is that the life of an innocent woman, Mary Bounds of Houston, Mississippi, was taken 20 years ago, and now justice has been delayed again. Gov, the guy is already facing justice. He's behind bars. Plus, for all you pretend-to-be Christians, it was God who said, "Vengeance is mine." Look it up. (My apologies to any Christians offended by the above statement. If it doesn't fit you, it doesn't apply to you.)

Author

golden eagle

Date

2007-10-30T18:32:43-06:00

ID

75495

Comment

Nope. Vengeance is Republicans'. Keep up, golden.

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-10-30T18:41:29-06:00

ID

75496

Comment

How funny. I had no idea about this when I posted "prayer works" above. Mysterical ways, indeed? ;-) At about 5:50 p.m. today, an attorney for the last inmate executed in Mississippi ran across Smith Park in downtown Jackson with the news that killer Earl Wesley Berry's execution had been stopped. Almost in unison, the group of about 25 religious leaders and others opposed to the death penalty shouted "prayer works."

Author

DonnaLadd

Date

2007-10-30T18:53:31-06:00

ID

75497

Comment

But, sadly, a high number of Democrats also believe in the death penalty.

Author

golden eagle

Date

2007-10-30T18:58:36-06:00

ID

75498

Comment

The New York Times is running a story on the stay of execution in today's edition: http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/31/washington/31execute.html?hp I have to admit, Donna, that's quite a coincidence.

Author

lucdix

Date

2007-10-31T02:09:09-06:00

ID

75499

Comment

Honestly...I am torn on the entire issue. While I do not think it is our place to mete the ultimate punishment....Berry did. He murdered a defensless woman with his bare hands. He admitted to the crime...so there is no issue with putting an innocent man to death. I know this is the unpopular view....but I agree with the Governor. I cannot imagine the unbearable grief the victim's family has experienced. She was not allowed to die in a manner that excluded cruel and unusual punishment.

Author

lm39531

Date

2007-10-31T06:24:59-06:00

ID

75500

Comment

Sometimes I feel so isolated in my beliefs. I truly believe that we have no business playing God. The death penalty is flat out wrong! Now, here goes the twist, so is abortion! Humans make mistakes and the innocent don’t need to pay the price.

Author

Truthseeker

Date

2007-10-31T08:05:22-06:00