"The System" works about as well as...

 A coon dog that can't bark.


In the editorial; Systems don't fail; people do published in the Austin American Statesman by; the Editorial Board. It talks about the infamous Morton case and how a now exonerated and innocent man was wrongly convicted of his wife’s murder and sentenced to life in prison. He served 25 years of this sentence before being exonerated through DNA evidence which indicated someone else was responsible.

Ken Anderson was the district attorney who prosecuted the case back in 1987. He pursued charges against Morton even though there was testimony saying that Morton wasn't home when the murder occurred and other physical evidence found at the crime scene suggesting another suspect, which would in my opinion at least have cast the shadow of a doubt the man could have been innocent and justified further investigation into the case.

 But ol' Ken didn't think so he vigorously prosecuted an innocent man with the hopes of quickly rail-roading this through the court and making sure in the process he was exemplifying the reason why "the system" is completely inadequate when it comes to protecting the rights of the accused.

We always hear the statement "they are presumed innocent until proven guilty" I tend to feel that is just lip-service and what it really means is your screwed because the huge and powerful justice system has you in its sights. So you may as well pack your bags say your goodbyes and find out when it's Salisbury steak night in the state pen because for all intents and purposes when someone is "accused" of a crime and the state decides to press charges. A trial is typically just a formality because facts are facts when a prosecutor brings a case to trial it has usually already been tried in the court of public opinion and unless you are rich or powerful the opinion usually isn’t in your favor.

So for normal folks out there, if for some reason you come home to the nightmare that Morton was faced with please just realize that you really have about the same chance of beating the charges as a snow-ball has of making it all the way through hell.

I feel so terrible for the man. The despair and hopelessness he must have felt that no one would believe him not to mention the tremendous tragedy of him losing his wife and being separated from his children for their entire life’s. It truly tears at the heart in my chest when I try and imagine myself in his shoes. He truly is a wonderful and brave man for having the perseverance to keep his faith all these years.

Cases like Mr. Morton’s are shining examples of the flaws which are entirely too pervasive in our criminal justice system. I agree totally with the Editorial Board who wrote this piece because our system depends on people and people all too often have their values compromised due to ambition and pressure to produce convictions instead of pressure to produce justice.

Overall the piece was really well written and means a lot to me personally because I have long been an advocate for change in the criminal justice system. Also I agree with their criticism of Ken for his half hearted and deflective apology. If he had any integrity at all he would take personal responsibility for what happened and strive to ensure nothing like this ever happens again!