Da Mayor: Doctor...Last night on 60 Minutes, there was a story about inmates in Texas who had been released from prison after serving years - in some cases decades - following wrongful convictions. They were all from Dallas County, which for years had a reputation of pursuing convictions "at all costs," including the cost of putting innocent people in prison.
Mookie: C'mon, what. What?
Da Mayor: Always do the right thing.
Mookie: That's it?
Da Mayor: That's it.
Mookie: I got it, I'm gone.
What makes the situation in Dallas County remarkable is that the drive to exonerate the wrongfully convicted is actually be aided by the new prosecutor, Craig Watkins. Not only is Watkins changing the culture of the Dallas County DA's office, he is teaming with the Innocence Project of Texas to review old cases. It's not politically popular, but it is the right thing to do.
Of course, such a change of course wouldn't have been necessary if prior DAs had "done the right thing" in the first place. Watkins points out that a prosecutor's job is to pursue justice, not rack up convictions. More prosecutors need to hear that message and take it to heart.
Do the right thing. It's a simple mantra, but one worth repeating.
No comments:
Post a Comment