The sad thing to me is that there are hundreds upon hundreds of such cases, with apparently a racial component to it as well [1].
As the author and jacquesm in this thread touched on [2]:
> I don't think my case was directly race related. I do believe that failed public defender systems across the country has a race related component. Most people who need a public defender are either black or poor or both.
1. https://www.nytimes.com/2017/03/07/us/wrongful-convictions-r...
2. https://old.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/e63xwa/i_spent_22_yea...
I can't fathom Missouri getting away with imprisoning someone for 22 years and not paying him any compensation. An entire life down the drain due to incompetence.
From the start of the AMA: "the public defender ... didn’t have time or the resources to prove my innocence". The defence isn't supposed to have to prove anything, that's the job of the prosecution - but what surprises me even more is that no-one seems to have picked up on that point. Suggestion for US readers - it's not a justice system if it imprisons innocence people at an overly high rate.
He was able to read over 1000 books and notes it as one of the positives. That is way more than most people will read in their lifetime.
https://piks.nl/upload/upload/chrome_2019-12-05_09-17-19.png
This popped out for me because, having time to read, is always the first thing that comes to my mind about being imprisoned.
This is just a personal opinion, but I don't think that anyone should be sentenced to a term in prison longer than 20 years.
I should also say that I was/am the victim of a crime that, while I wouldn't feel comfortable talking about it here, would normally get someone the death penalty.
The primary reason that I don't support the death penalty is that I don't think that the state can be trusted to kill people humanely. It took me years to come around to this, but I also believe that it isn't punishment. It's revenge.
The reason that I don't support terms longer than 20 years is that, no matter how uncomfortable it is to think about it, its abuse is more horrifying than the crime. Our prison system is barbaric.
Google "California prison gladiator" and tell me that Abu Ghraib was a bunch of bad apples. Prisons produce that kind of abuse systematically.
No matter how bad a crime committed by a single individual is, an institution that that produces the outcomes like those that out prison system creates is worse.
Where I'm from, the prison system has a legacy that is intrinsically tied up to the slavery of the pre-civil war era. Some southern states even have prisons on the grounds of former slave plantations.
In fact one of the things that most american's don't know is that slavery is not prohibited by the constitution. The amendment that banned slavery left a clause in place for prison inmates. This is particularly grotesque because they are still counted for the purposes of determining representation in congress based on population.
Also, prison guard unions aren't prohibited from lobbying state or federal government to pass longer sentences. Never mind for-profit prisons, even prisons run by government aren't free from commercial pressures to keep prisons full.
I'm intimately aware of how horrible crime can be, but prisons do not stop crime.
He's got a gofundme if you want a send a few bucks his way: https://www.gofundme.com/f/ricky-kidd-reunited-after-23-year...
Apparently in Missouri, state law says he's owed no money for being imprisoned unless the wrongful conviction was due to DNA testing.
From reddit, link to book written by Ricky Kidd:
> https://smile.amazon.com/Vivid-Expressions-Journey-Inside-In...
He now supports himself through his book sales and speaking tours. That's one way to support him.
If you want to support Midwest Innocence Projecj: https://themip.org/donate/
try wrapping your head around the idea of a 43% unemployment rate. That’s the unemployment rate among formerly incarcerated Black women: https://www.prisonpolicy.org/reports/outofwork.html
Instead Prisons: https://www.prisonpolicy.org/scans/instead_of_prisons/chapte...
> There ought to be no jails; and if it were not for the fact that the people on the outside are so grasping and heartless in their dealings with the people on the inside, there would be no such institutions as jails .... The only way in the world to abolish crime and criminals is to abolish the big ones and the little ones together. Make fair conditions of life. Give men a chance to live .... Nobody would steal if he could get something of his own some easier way. Nobody will commit burglary when he has a house full. The only way to cure these conditions is by equality. There should be no jails. They do not accomplish what they pretend to accomplish. If you would wipe them out there would be no more criminals than now. They terrorize nobody. They are a blot upon any civilization, and a jail is an evidence of the lack of charity of the people on the outside who make the jails and fill them with the victims of their greed.
—Clarence Darrow, An Address to the Prisoners in the Cook County Jail, Chicago, Illinois-1902
This is one of the best threads and feedback I have read on HN. The biggest fear among males is prison. Not having proper protection and legal advise changes lives, and it federates deep.
Ricky came and spoke at my firm a month ago after being out for only 72 days. He has an amazing story. He is a phenomenal speaker. I was in charge of logistics for the event and we had a book signing after he spoke. As he signed each book he put a unique and different inscription in EVERY SINGLE BOOK HE SIGNED. Literally no two were the same and he signed a ton of books. I would recommend you bring Ricky to speak wherever you may work so more people can hear his story. Support Ricky directly by buying his book or supporting his GoFundMe.
How much of this nightmare happens in other 1st world countries? Does the adage "Never talk to the police" hold elsewhere/everywhere?
We are over-taxing the justice system; we need to decriminalize a lot [of] behavior that would be better managed by the health care system. A majority of people in prison are mentally ill. Many are there for drug convictions or behavior in service of an addiction. So reducing the number of people brought into the system would be a strong start. Stop voting for tough-on-crime politicians, and start getting smart on crime. -- Sean O’Brien
Won't civil law measures against wrongful imprisonment come into play here? The state should be paying heftily for putting people into imprisonment wrongfully.
If you are interested in this matter, watch The confession Tapes in Netflix, and learn why you should never talk to cops (nor brag about crimes [you haven't committed - and even if you have, you don't want to start talking without a good lawyer helping you out first because a deal might be on the table, etc.).
https://www.netflix.com/title/80161702 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Confession_Tapes
Another nightmare that could even come close, I can not imagine.
These letters from his public defender seem horrible.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/read-ricky-kidds-despera...
The fact that the legal system can work correctly only if you throw enough money into it, that's scary. Is it a good thing that only wealthy persons can afford a correct legal treatment? Not seems to be in a free and open society the US claims to have.
Another sad situation that discourages death penalty. I can't even imagine the amount of people killed when they did nothing wrong.
I have been living in Germany for many years and the prison (and justice) system is obviously different hear. Quite a few Americans think it's ludicrous here. But reading this, I beg to differ. This is also just heartbreaking.
It's also crazy to think he gets no state compensation for this sort of thing.
'anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law'. This sentence police say condemns the us system to a game where the objective is to beat the opponent. It's ingrained in the system every step of the way, even with a person's supposed 'rights'.
This may be a dumb question, but if I'm in the situation where I'm being questioned by the police and need a lawyer, how do I get one (a decent one, not a public defender)? Is there a hotline or something? I've never interacted with a lawyer before.
Thank God for PBS NewsHour. Some the best, most professional (exhibiting neutrality, just the facts) journalists we have.
Cutting and pasting this comment from the thread:
As someone once falsely accused of a crime and facing 12 years in prison. I went to trial and I have some advice for people.
1. You gotta start acting and thinking like you're guilty. Ask yourself "if I was guilty and trying to get away with this, what would I do?"
When you're innocent you think that your innocence means something. It doesn't. Discount it and move on.
2. Get the best lawyer you can not afford. Borrow from anyone and everyone. I borrowed 120k for my trial. Had to work my ass off to pay people back but it was worth every cent.
EDIT: Another mindset to use is to remember it's NOT a justice system. It's a legal system, so get the best damn team you can. Because you're in a legal game not a justice game. Know what game you're playing before you step on the floor.
3. Never ever ever ever talk to the cops. Retain your right for silence. It's the greatest gift you have. The cops don't want to sort anything out, they aren't on your side. They want to nail you. That's all they care about. They have a job to do. That job is to find someone to blame for this problem. So they're gonna do that. Don't help them do that. Save your ammunition for trial. My jury ended up laughing at the prosecutor and the investigating officer in the trial.
I was acquitted of 13 charges in under 70 minutes by my jury. If I had of used a public defender I would be in prison still. With another 6 years to go.
Hopefully this advice helps someone else. Hit me up if you're in trouble with the law and just want an ear to listen.
PS. If you're guilty, I got nothing for you, no idea how to help you.
EDIT: Another mindset to use is to remember it's NOT a justice system. It's a legal system, so get the best damn team you can. Because you're in a legal game not a justice game. Know what game you're playing before you step on the floor.
from:
https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/e63xwa/i_spent_22_yea...
Depressing.
Sometimes I think this happens because they wanted the individual serving the time to disappear off the streets.
Other times I think it's the government covering up a crime perpetrated by their own, or someone bribing them, and they know exactly who did it.
Americans, take a look at that. I think you have a lot to learn where Soviet, and then Russian criminal justice system went.
US police and that of Soviet Union have surprisingly many things in common.
The biggest similarity I think is police's and DAs' willingness to throw a charge at just anybody, some times even at a first passerby they see, and then "seeing if it sticks." And they, sometimes, show an even greater zeal at going after known "easy targets" than genuine cases.
HN commenters are usually infatuated with using the government to solve all of their problems, then situations like this come up and it’s “Doh! Why this happen?!?” How about we stop giving the government infinite power, both in the legal system and in the political system?
Something I think about is why is the American Justice system designed the way it is. Like a commenter said below it is a legal game. Why?
These are peoples lives, why is this system gamified? Why is it not a truth-seeking system? I am probably naive and don't see the full picture of all of this but it is confusing to me. The United States is known to be the country with the highest number of its citizens in prison. With a burdened legal system and little funding, why does this continue to be so? I find the barrier of entry to prison in the US very low compared to other countries I have lived in and visited. What are the advantages of this? I find this all very absurd.