DNA evidence vs Racism

welsh

welsh

Junkmaster
Saw this on 60 Minutes- DNA helps free Inmate after 27 years

There's been some bitter soul searching going on in Dallas County, as one man after another is being released from prison after being convicted, years ago, of crimes they did not commit. As correspondent Scott Pelley reports, it happened again just last week with the release of a man who had been proclaiming his innocence, behind bars, for 27 years.

So far, 17 men have been cleared in Dallas - that's more than most states. All were put on trial by prosecutors who worked for the legendary District Attorney Henry Wade. Wade was Dallas' top prosecutor for more than 30 years. He never lost a case he handled personally. But it turns out the record of Wade's office was too good to be true. And now, a new Dallas district attorney is focusing on the Wade legacy - it's a search for innocent men waiting to be exonerated.


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James Woodard went away in 1981, convicted in the murder of his girlfriend who had been raped and strangled. He was prosecuted by the office of District Attorney Henry Wade. For nearly 30 years, he never gave up writing letters, and filing motions. But no one was willing to grant him a hearing-until now
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So this DA wants a 100% conviction rate, dismisses evidence that exculpates suspects, convicts without providing the opposition the record of its investigation, and now, nearly 30 years later, African Americans are being released because DNA evidence proves that they didn't do it.

And the only reason why Texas is able to do this is because it kept the DNA evidence. The Dallas DA is now looking at 250 other cases. Imagine, how many African Americans are in jail, right now, for crimes they didn't commit because white prosecutors wanted to put them in jail.

Fuck, the DA behind this should be tossed in jail, and if anyone died in prison as a result, the DA should be charged with manslaughter or murder.

And get this, the guy could have been out if he had pleaded to the parole board that he had done the crime. But he didn't because he was innocent. And so he got stuck in the slammer for 27 years.

"When you appeared before the parole board what did they say to you?" Pelley asks.

"They always told me, as long as you deny your guilt its saying something about you, you know you are not willing to own up to your deed. And we gonna deny you," Woodard says.

But Woodard refused to admit guilt. "I wasn't guilty," he says.

"You chose truth over freedom," Pelley remarks.

"I mean, a man has to stand for something," Woodard says.
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More of this story on NPR

Why was this guy, and probably hundreds like him, put in jail- racist bullshit.

I hope there is a warm place in hell for the DA that put this guy away. Vanity, having 100% conviction rate, is still a deadly sin.


There was also a bit on this on NPR
 
It's amazing that anyone could live with themselves after destroying so many lives. You see it day in and day out and wonder how they ended up so cold hearted. Fracked up.
 
Woodard said:
I mean, a man has to stand for something.
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I love this quote.

And this, I mean THIS is what should America be known for. Not the cowboy/world police mentality, no Manifest Destiny or other bullshit, but this.

I'm really, REALLY impressed. And in Texas of all things....
 
:clap:

I wonder how the right-wing crowds are reacting to this. Probably cursing scientists for being too damn smart.
 
I am getting three things out of this-

(1) That there is hope that this racism bullshit can be put behind us. I can accept that the Dallas DA was a racist (being zealous in one's duty is one thing, but this kind of consistency is questionable). But that there are people who are willing to open up the cases and reexamine them means that justice still means something.

(2) the only reason this is happening for this particular guy is because Texas held onto the evidence. One score for preserving evidence and good rule of law. But now the problem- how many other people are in the slammer who shouldn't be and will remain there because the evidence needed to get them off no longer exists. To think that everyone in jail belongs there is naive. To think that concerns by African-Americans of racial injustice aren't justified, is foolish.

(3) Not to dis military service, but if you want to make the world a better place, if you want to defend the US and serve your country, then there are better ways than fighting in W's bullshit war in Iraq. Rather, one can make this country better by standing up for the principles and values the US is supposed to represent. One need only open one's eyes to the opportunities.
 
fedaykin said:
:clap:

I wonder how the right-wing crowds are reacting to this. Probably cursing scientists for being too damn smart.
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Damnit, the left is as racist as it comes. The right generally treats others as PEOPLE not POOR OPPRESSED BLACK/LATINO/ASIAN/NATIVE.

I'm sick of people like you blaming racist bs on the right.

As for the DA, admittedly I don't know anything more than what i've read. That fuck needs an ass kicking.
 
Ah-Teen said:
Damnit, the left is as racist as it comes. The right generally treats others as niggers, gooks and chinks.
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Fixed.

Ah-Teen said:
Damnit, the left is as racist as it comes. The right generally treats others as PEOPLE not POOR OPPRESSED BLACK/LATINO/ASIAN/NATIVE.

I'm sick of people like you blaming racist bs on the right.
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What a load of crap. I don't see "the left" putting innocent people in jail because they have a dark skin color. Do you seriously call it racist to advocate the rights of minorities?
 
Ah-Teen said:
Damnit, the left is as racist as it comes. The right generally treats others as FAGGOTS, ASSFUCKERS, POOFS, QUEERS, SODOMITES
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Fixed again, so that it would apply to Ah-Teen.

Seriously though, I'm surprised you think that way. People who consider themselves to be on the left of the political spectrum do tend to be more tolerant towards minorities than those on the right.
 
Ah-Teen said:
Damnit, the left is as racist as it comes. The right generally treats others as PEOPLE not POOR OPPRESSED BLACK/LATINO/ASIAN/NATIVE.
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That's not the kind of racism that's actually a practical problem, though.

And yes, of course racism is largely a problem of the right. It might not be inherent to right-wing people, but the vast majority of racists in modern times are right-wing.

Which is easily seen through observing simple political situations. The USA is much more right-leaning than most European countries, and racism is a much, much bigger problem in the USA.
 
Isn't generalizing left and right people stereotypical?

Everyone has their own quirks, this fellow was the brunt of an asshole who took his quirk too far and brought it to work for show and oppress day in the courtroom.

I for one cannot stand people who cozy up to the whole leftist woe is everyone who is an ethnic minority, not that I dislike minorities, but I find it insulting that they can do no wrong, or that these people take the moral high-road for brownie points with the PC crowd.

Kids are just as fallible and responsible for their actions as adults,
Aboriginals are just as fallible as Caucasians for substance abuse,
Homeless Adults need to take responsibility for their lives,
Caucasians are not the be all and end all of ethnic superiority,
Bleeding hearts can do equal amounts of damage as good through their actions,
Jaded bastards are the same as the bleeding hearts on the opposite spectrum.

We all fuck up, make decisions based on things that others can and will consider to be biased for whatever reasons they have, does that make our failings wrong?

Yes, but only as long as we don't attempt to better ourselves and correct our failings to the best of our abilities, if we allow ourselves to wallow in our failings and use them or circumstances as an excuse to continue following down their path, it will only cause the failings to grow stronger.

Flaws are impossible to get rid of, they define our existence, our personalities, how we interact with our surroundings, but at the same time, without overcoming our flaws, we will be unable to see past the barriers that separate human beings in negative ways (Race, Creed, Color, Religion, etc.)

This judge deserves the same amount of time in the clink that he subjugated the fellow to, of course if the judge is still alive to this day, you never know with greybeard judges.

The only thing we can do, is take the lesson learned at the expense of this poor fellow to heart, and learn that treating people unequally, yes even in a positive way, will only lead to hardship in the end for someone.

We are all human, it's about time we started acting like there is no difference between each-other rather than pussyfoot around because of ethnic origin.

That's why I honestly believe justice SHOULD be blind, put the Judge & Jury in a blind booth, so they cannot see the defendant or the prosecutor, but they can hear everything, all text submitted should be void of description, his looks should not affect whether or not the fellow is guilty, so why does the description belong in there.

Only after the verdict is decided should the Judge & Jury be allowed to see either of them if they so desire.

Then it would be at least closer towards a blind justice system, based solely on the facts before them, and not influenced by ethnicity.
 
Sith... I think I love you ^,,^ I know I generalize, its helpful when trying to talk about a subject. Because you know. Normal people realize that generalizations aren't accurate.

THE REST OF YOU CAN FUCK YOURSELVES!

It is racist to give one group privilege above others. Tolerance isn't giving people things they don't earn. I don't get a school grant because of the color of my skin. I don't get legal protection if I get bashed for being gay. Why the hell should they? They haven't earned it by being born.

It seems like every time someone tries to take down an unnecessary law or policy that favors an ethnic group and puts it above everyone else, the phrase "racist right wing nazi facist nut job" pops up. I'm rather fed up with it. I'm not a racist, my family isn't racist, my friends aren't racist, no moderate right winger I know is racist.

IF someone is actually racist, which seems to be the case(apparently I didn't make this clear by the statment "this DA needs an asskicking") I say we burn the fucker at the stake. He deserves it because he intentionally attacked others.

fedaykin said:
Ah-Teen said:
Damnit, the left is as racist as it comes. The right generally treats others as FAGGOTS, ASSFUCKERS, POOFS, QUEERS, SODOMITES
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Fixed again, so that it would apply to Ah-Teen.

Seriously though, I'm surprised you think that way. People who consider themselves to be on the left of the political spectrum do tend to be more tolerant towards minorities than those on the right.
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I'm not surprised you think that way... unfortunately. Don't believe the right are bigots lie, just like I don't believe the left are hippies lie. Moderates are tolerant, not conservatives or liberals. Moderates treat everyone the same.

Most people know that we all bleed the same blood.
 
Ah-Teen said:
It seems like every time someone tries to take down an unnecessary law or policy that favors an ethnic group and puts it above everyone else, the phrase "racist right wing nazi facist nut job" pops up.
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I'm not that familiar with US laws. What laws are there that specifically put a certain "ethnic group" above everyone else?
 
Damnit, the left is as racist as it comes. The right generally treats others as PEOPLE not POOR OPPRESSED BLACK/LATINO/ASIAN/NATIVE.

I'm sick of people like you blaming racist bs on the right.
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Do you also believe that Hitler was a leftist?

You know, national socialist

You can't deny the facts for long, lieberals
 
The US is the most racist nation huh?

What about all the muslim infighting we've seen over the past few years in Denmark and Frace? What about all the French and Italian anti immigration marches?

What about the decades of fighting between the English and the Irish?

Even as a conservative though, I'd say the most likely group to be racists in America would be the insane fringe right wingers just like the insane fringe left wingers are more likely to be eco terrorists who don't shave their arm pits.

But none of that really matters, because any group of a thousand people will always have atleast one insane person to give everyone else a bad name. So maybe we should just drop all of this?

My favorite part of all of these stories of convicts being exonerated, other than the part where an innocent man is freed, ist that it proves that while the American justice system is flawed, it is not corrupt.

What did Texas or even the justice system gain by releasing an innocent man? Absolutly nothing. In fact, they will most likely be sued millions of dollars for their mistake. But because we strive for a fair system, we allow proceedings like this to take place.

I think the DA that gets a man wrongly convicted is as guilty as the lawyer who lets an innocent man go free, only to commint another crime.
 
@ Ah-teen and Mord Sith

Bullshit-
What you have is a DA that broke the law in order to maintain his conviction rate by putting innocent blacks in jail for crimes they didn't commit. That the DA was white, that this was Texas and that it was policy to keep Blacks repressed was a policy that went back nearly 100 years to the post Civil Period. It is only a step up from the wide spread lynchings that occurred against Blacks up unti about 1920.

You can't say this isn't racism when its clearly a racist agenda.


Neamos- you're an idiot.

First Hitler- was a nationalist socialist- but for all intensive purposes he used middle class voters to come down hard against the supposed leftist threat of the day- not socialists, but communists.

The rise of communism, generally motivated by increased demands from organized labor for a more equitable distribution of economic wealth and political power (because of the exploitation of rapid industrialization), led to different patterns of political formation. In some areas you had incorporation of workers into the political fold and the creation of keynesian welfare states. The US, England, etc. In other states you had repression of the left through violence- and so the rise of corporativist single party states that took advantage of democracies to authoritarian dictatorships- Nazis. Other states (Sweden, Denmark) went for social democracy.

Here read this= Liberalism, Fascism, Or Social Democracy: Social Classes and the Political Origins of Regimes in interwar Europe By Gregory M. Luebbert

The Nazi's weren't agents of the left but the right. And they still are.

And if anyone thinks the right wing isn't discriminatory, they should get their head out of their ass.

Example-
Bush's administration has generally led to a roll back in many of the social services for inner city (generally minority) communities yet big tax breaks for generally white upper and middle classes.

The Bush administration has pushed for laws that ban gays equal rights, largely supported by the right.

The Bush administration has passed law in which it gives the state the power to give money to churches, but then those churches (acting as state surrogates) can discriminate against non-believers. And is it a surprise that the primary beneficiaries have been white churches.

You talk about "giving people something they didn't earn." Except generally that skips that the primary beneficiaries of that policy are families that, for generations have managed to exploit others that either didn't share their race or social class.

If you have no right to privileges, then no one has the right to born with a silver spoon in their mouth, or to have a wealthy family, or to prosper from the inheritance of the dead. Because that's inequality as well.

How do you create a state based on equality when those who rule are willing to tolerate if not further the exploitation of the poor by the rich, or by the racially dominate against the racially inferior?

That's not to say that poor whites aren't getting fucked. They've been getting fucked probably as long as poor blacks and other ethnic groups. Its a shame that that racial politics has been used as a cloak to hide the inequalities perpetuated by the right.

Fact- higher levels of social inequality have been consistently achieved by the conservatives and right wing. Which is great if you're a member of that class.

But if you're a member of the lower and middle class and you're supporting the right, then you might as well smile as you bend over and get fucked in the ass.

And that's the great strategy. Hume realized that a dominant ruling class need not dominate other classes to stay in power. They need only to keep potential rivals divided. So the republican party creates a agenda in which it promotes the anger of both poor minorities and poor whites. This means that both groups turn on each other, which allows both to continue to get fucked by rich.

And if you don't believe, just check the level of inequality in the US now compared to how it was 50 years ago.

Which is another problem. The period in which the US enjoyed its greatest economic growth- was also a period when inequality was at its lowest.

Last time we had such great inequality- we had the Great Depression. And now, guess what- recession.

I can appreciate upper class whites campaigning for Republican causes- afterall, they are only promoting their self interest. But if you are middle class or lower class, black or white, and you're supporting the Republicans, than you're a fucking idiot.
 
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