Entries
doesn’t it suck when white people are wrongfully accused?
7:12 pm on December 28th, 2007 by Ariel Werner
Perhaps this is old news to you, or no news to some, but did y’all know that Duke, in response to the
Lacrosse Scandal, is forming a
Center for Criminal Justice that will focus on wrongful accusations??? The Center,
set to open Fall 2008, will be a part of the Duke Law Wrongful Convictions Clinic. “Three of our students suffered a grave injustice at the hands of the legal system,” Duke President Brodhead declared in a written statement, “I am determined that we will make some good come out of the grave injustice that took place.” The
Duke Law website does not, at present, mention any clinical focus on wrongful accusations. Meanwhile, an Innocence Project that began at the University of North Carolina law school in 1999
has been poorly received by state law enforcement and prosecution.
The nation’s first Innocence Project was founded in 1992 at Yeshiva University’s Cardozo School of Law in 1992 by Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld. The Project reports:
Most of our clients are poor, forgotten, and have used up all legal avenues for relief. The hope they all have is that biological evidence from their cases still exists and can be subjected to DNA testing. All Innocence Project clients go through an extensive screening process to determine whether or not DNA testing of evidence could prove their claims of innocence. Thousands currently await our evaluation of their cases.
The Cardozo Innocence Project was created to help communities without access to legal recourse prove their innocence. It took Duke until 2007–when the innocence of wealthy, white students came into question–to deliberate on the foundation of a similar project. Nauseating. Hopefully the Center will serve the local community as well as those privileged students who clash with the law every now and drunken again.
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December 29th, 2007 at 3:36 am
These guys were exposed to the scorn of the national media for months. There are worse tragedies out there, but hating on them seems pointless and cruel.
December 29th, 2007 at 6:45 pm
The fact that the Innocence Project continues to spawn sub-projects, all of which are overwhelmed by case inquiries, proves that Wrongful Convictions are systemic rather than an anomaly.
So what can we do in OUR backyard?
Well we have:
A school with big pockets and a core of politically minded students (Brown);
A school with an army of social workers and plenty of family in the RI prison system (RI College);
A law school which has struggled to sustain their own Innocence Project (Roger Williams);
What we need is a Working Group capable of bringing these elements together and get as many innocent people out of the ACI as possible… and deter future wrongful convictions with this work.
Can we get a few administrators to step up?
Can we organize the professors on our side?
Its 2008- time to make it happen!
December 29th, 2007 at 7:02 pm
Arrrgggghhh if only we can all find a time to meet, RIPRO can move from vision to reality! Maybe you and I should just buy a domain name and est. as a 501(c)4 and the rest will fall into place? Wishful thinking?
December 30th, 2007 at 3:33 pm
Roger, I hear you. But I’m not really hating on the fellers. I’m hating on Duke for waiting to respond to the plight of the wrongfully accused until the issue appeared among the privileged class. One of the Duke guys goes to Brown now, and I hear he’s very nice and bright. My gripe is with the University’s timing. Hopefully something good will come out of all this, nonetheless!