After reading the story of James Lee Woodard, just freed from prison after 27 years of wrongful incarceration, I have an idea to increase the apologies that someone like him gets offered when they finally get exonerated.
Make the original trial judge, the original prosecutors who suppressed evidence, the original cops who asked leading questions of witnesses, to all come back — on their own dime, if they’re no longer in the area — and make their own apologies.
Second, change any statute of limitations for civil suits on the matter to match the maximum sentence time of the original crime, and start the clock ticking from the moment the person is released.
Bad cops and bad prosecutors would rethink if they knew they could be sued 30 years later, including having pensions garnisheed and such.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Your comments are appreciated, as is at least a modicum of politeness.
Comments are moderated, so yours may not appear immediately.
Due to various forms of spamming, comments with professional websites, not your personal website or blog, may be rejected.