Innocent after 20 years on death row

Great idea to help a cause right here on this board! Please read on!Think for a minute about everything that you did from 1977-1997. Now, erase it all. That’s 20 years gone – BOOM – just like that. I’m only 21, so that would be a LIFETIME.I saw a play that really moved me called “The Exonerated”. In short, the play tells the TRUE stories of people who spent years on death row before being found innocent and set free.The play ran for years, but unfortunately, isn’t running anymore. But I just saw Court TV is doing a film-version of the same play with some bigtime actors/actresses i.e. Danny Glover, Susan Sarandon, etc.. It airs on Jan.27th @ 9PM, but I’d check their site to be sure if it’s the same in your time zone or whatever. www.courttv.com I’m hoping that I could collect more people’s opinions here so I can print and mail them to my Congressman and even my Governor. Letters from actually people are powerful! Here’s a link to another documentary, which gave me the idea of how to get involved! http://deadlinethemovie.com/get_involved/take_action.php So if you have thoughts on the death penalty, please share them here. Just imagine if it was you, or your friend, or family sitting innocent on death row. FYI One of my favorite songs has the line, “If you’re not going to make something better, than you’re just IN THE WAY!” Let’s all make something better right now. Thanks so much!!

 

Right or wrong, I gotta wonder why someone's on death row for 20 years.

 

Yeah, much better to fry 'em quick.

 

This is more of an R&R thing. Don't y'all think?

 

Who do I need to write to get you put on death row?

 

I would guess this individual has a lengthy criminal record in order to be on Death row to begin with. Not to sound insensative, but we'd probably be better off with out them either way...

Personally, I think anyone convicted of three felony crimes should be put to death. They have proven they do not intend to be a productive member of society, thus there is no need for them. In the same breath, I believe anyone convicted of lesser crimes three times, should get life...three drunk driving convictions gets you life...three burglary charges gets you life...ect.

 

Damn, McFly41, you'd have 'bout half of the population in the pokey and 1/4 of the rest fried.

 

Grammar cops.

 

The gene pool could use a good colon cleansing!

 

As usual, idiot liberals leap before they look.


Meanwhile, the Death Penalty Information Center (DPIC), an anti- capital punishment group, says it does not consider Jacobs (played in the film by Sarandon) or Cook (played by Quinn) as innocent because both accepted plea bargains. DPIC Executive Director Richard Dieter says his organization has tracked 117 others "with evidence of innocence" who have been released from death sentences since 1973, but he says Jacobs and Cook don't qualify.

Paul Nugent, a lawyer for Cook, acknowledged that his client agreed to plead "no contest" and be found guilty of murdering a 21- year-old neighbor in 1977. But Nugent says Cook, now 47, did so only so he would be freed after serving 20 years in prison.

Jacobs, now 57, pleaded guilty in 1992 to second-degree murder of two police officers under an "Alford plea," in which she accepted a guilty verdict without abandoning her claim of innocence.

A transcript of her plea-bargain hearing says she acknowledged that prosecutors could prove she took part in the fatal shootings if the charges went to trial. In return for her plea, she was released after nearly 17 years in prison. Jacobs' boyfriend had been executed for the crimes.