Liberty & Justice…?

Once upon a time, a long, long time ago, I was a very naive person. In my sweet, sheltered, fantasy land, law enforcement was always right. Judges were always fair. Lawyers always did the right thing in working for their clients.

I didn’t have to grow up very much, however, to learn for myself that none of those things were always true. Sometimes law enforcement officers are bullies. Sometimes they profile people and harass them. Sometimes they’re just straight up tired and take shortcuts just to get a case done. Judges have egos, and personality flaws, and again, are just straight up human and don’t always get it right. And lawyers….let’s not even go there.

I support the work of the Innocence Project. They are an organization around the country that represents people on claims of actual innocence who have been wrongfully convicted. It happens. Sometimes out of racism. Sometimes because law enforcement just wants to get a distasteful case out of the way. Sometimes because a prosecutor wants a conviction to get support for re-election (and a big reason why I DO NOT think county prosecutor, or judges, should be elected officials.)

In real life, people get railroaded and wrongfully convicted. I’ve seen it close to home; I’ve seen it close to me. I had a domestic client who was wrongfully convicted (I did not represent him in his criminal case, btw–I’m not qualified for that type of criminal defense). His case was overturned on appeal, but not before he spent 3 years in state prison and was practically unemployable on release. You can read his case here, from the Utah Appellate Court (the State Supremes declined to hear it, because they felt the Appellate court got it right.)

Chris Tapp. He was 22 when he was convicted. That’s his entire adult life gone, folks.

And then there’s this case…Chris Tapp. Chris grew up in and now lives in Idaho Falls, Idaho. He was wrongfully convicted of rape and murder, and spent nearly 20 years in prison before his conviction was over turned and he was released. The Innocence Project, and a local public defender, worked his case tirelessly–because he didn’t do it. Sadly, however, when you erase 19 years of a person’s life, they can’t just come back out and pick up where they left off.

So not only do I support the Innocence Project, I support compensation for the wrongfully accused and convicted. It’s the least the community can do, after it’s ripped a person’s life to shreds.

To support the Innocence Project’s work, go to their website, www.innocenceproject. org, and see what you can do to help.