You hear about stories like this on occasion. They trouble me beyond measure. I feel the need to express a thought or two about the consequences of stories such as this one.
I don’t know the origin of this social media meme. It certainly rings tragically true to me.
My question of the moment is this: How do you build your life after spending years in prison for committing a crime that — in this instance — never happened? A young man broke down when his case was dismissed. I wish him all the very best as he seeks to build a life.
He is not alone. I hear all the time about individuals who are set free after spending decades behind bars. DNA tests are brought into play to determine whether these men (usually, they are men) were present at a crime scene. The tests disprove what prosecutors “proved” back when these cases went to trial.
A judge then releases these individuals. They are sent into the world after spending 10, 20, 30, maybe 40 years in the slammer. This is one of those instances that I have difficulty wrapping my noggin around.
How would you react? Would you be filled with anger at a system that imprisoned you wrongly? Would you feel relief? How about forgiveness?
These cases offer life lessons I never, ever want to learn. Then again, at the age of nearly 72 years on this good Earth, it’s not likely I would have enough time left to learn them if given the chance.
Science and technology have advanced far beyond what many of us ever could have imagined. The world of criminal justice is just one venue where we see these occasional miracles play out as individuals are set free.
However, I must ask: How do these advances prepare these folks to retrieve time that has been ripped from them in their relentless march?
As for the question posed in the picture you see along with this post about whether women should be charged — or jailed — for filing phony rape charges.
Well … that could be a start in restoring justice.