It seems as though if our black men are not being gunned down by
law enforcements, the criminal justice system steps in to find other ways to
put black men away through wrongful incarceration and execution. When
the lives of innocent people are taken away from them it becomes several steps
beyond plain old racism. It seems almost like acceptable behavior. If the repercussions of wrongful convictions
by the law (both intentionally and lackadaisically) were more severe then
perhaps we may never know of this atrocity, sadly that is rarely the case and
in actuality, the opposite happens to be more likely , such as in those
numerous instances where criminal justice has been known to be indirectly
rewarded subsequent to publicly known cases of miscarriage of justice.
This week , 45 year old Mr David McCallum, a wrongfully convicted black man was set free after 29 years in prison, his friend Willie Stuckey, who was also convicted of manslaughter ,but died in 2001 while in prison , was also wrongfully incarcerated.Robert Taylor, Jonathan Barr, James Harden, Shainne Sharp and Robert Veal , all black men, served more than 70 years for a 1991 rape and murder they did not commit. Raymond Santana, Yusef Salaam, Kharey Wise, Antron McCray, Kevin Richardson were also tried and wrongfully convicted for the crime of the assault and rape of Trisha Meili and were exonerated as a result of the actual perpetrator's confession.
One thing that is alarming is the young age of the men when being convicted; most were aged between 14 to 17 years old. At such a young age, it is easier to be coerced into making incriminating statements. Yet statements made by these men (then kids) are often overturned or aggravated, depending on how it would aid the prosecution's case. Alarmingly, this would often happen even in the light of contradicting evidence such as valid alibis and inconclusive (near-zero) DNA test results.
While the rising exoneration of wrongful incarceration is something to be thankful for. Innocent black men are too often imprisoned and sentenced to death. The vast majority of innocent black men will never be exonerated - it's just such a rare thing. Since 1973, over 140 people have been released from death rows in 26 states because of innocence. Nationally, at least one person is exonerated for every 10 that are executed. The vast majority of innocent black men will never be exonerated - it's just such a rare thing
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