I bugged out of work at 1 pm today, due to a lack of interest. We pretty much had a skeleton staff anyway today.
Most the Hispanic employees took off for Good Friday. This includes all the Hispanic women in the office. They are mostly Catholic so today is a religious observance for them. It is interesting to me how deep the Catholic tradition runs. Even those Hispanic women who have left the Catholic church for more evangelical denominations, were absent today.
I was thinking about how much being middle and upper class affords us, even in the observance of religion. Our custodian at work is a Hispanic woman named Maria. She was at work today because the cleaning contractor she works for doesn't offer the liberal vacation Tedious Systems does. So she came to work on Good Friday, like it or not, while the middle class folks in our offices had the luxury of a day off for religious observance.
Different subject. I just finished John Grisham's new book, An Innocent Man. Maybe you've read it or maybe Grisham is not your cup of tea. Unlike his previous books, this is not a work of fiction, but instead tells the true story of two men, Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz, who were framed for murder by over-zealous police desperate to solve the crime. They were convicted and sentenced to die. Ron Williamson came within five days of execution.
I am not the sort of person who gets riled up by books or documentaries, but if a person believes in the death penalty, this book should give them pause to reconsider.
When you read the web of errors that occurred in the prosecution of these men and others, it is hard to imagine that anyone could be confident that an execution was justified and that a truly guilty man was executed.
It is a fascinating book.
Merle
Things in this blog represented to be fact, may or may not actually be true. The writer is frequently wrong, sometimes just full of it, but always judgmental and cranky
Tag: Daily Life
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4 comments:
Grisham is a good writer, I'll have to check out this one-- I saw something on television a few years ago about the death penalty --about innocent people who were discovered to be absolutely innocent...ooops ...after they'd been killed.
Some of the stories were downright scary--If you or I were in the wrong spot at the wrong time and the legal system worked in the wrong way, we could end up fried for no reason at all.
I hope to find Grisham had some ideas on how things might be changed...
we got the wholeweek off due to the Passover/Easter combo.
I haven't read the book, but my understanding is that the police usually set their minds on someone, then work to develop the best case they can against him/her, ignoring all other possible suspects. It's sort of like reporters; they decide what the story is, then go look for people who can provide quotes to support the story.
I don't see how anyone could support the death penalty, frankly, given all the convictions that have later been proved faulty. (I have a problem with killing the guilty ones, too.)
Dennis Fritz is a man who needs to be noticed more. His Book changed my views about the Death Penalty. He is the Other Innocent Man in John Grisham's The Innocent Man, he wrote a book called "Journey Toward Justice" Published by Seven Locks Press. A Companion book to The Innocent Man. Dennis Fritz writes his own story about unwarranted prosecution and wrongful conviction and is a true crime. Endorsed on Jacket by John Grisham which he states as Compelling and Fascinating.
Journey Toward Justice is a testimony to the Triumph of the human Spirit and is a Memoir. Dennis Fritz was wrongfully convicted of rape and murder after a swift trail.
The only thing that saved him from the Death Penalty was a lone vote from a juror. Dennis Fritz was the other Innocent man mentioned in John Grisham's Book. which mainly is about Ronnie Williamson, Dennis Fritz's co-defendant. Both were exonerated after spending 12 years in prison.
The real killer was one of the Prosecution's Key Witness. Read about why he went on a special diet of his while in prison, amazing and shocking. Dennis Fritz's Story of unwarranted prosecution and wrongful conviction needs to be
heard. Read about how he wrote hundreds of letters and appellate briefs in his own defense and immersed himself in an intense study of law.
He was a school teacher and a ordinary man whose wife was brutally murdered in 1975 by a deranged 17 year old neighbor. On May 8th 1987, Five years after Debbie Sue Carter's rape and murder he was home with his young daughter and put under arrest, handcuffed and on his way to jail on charges of rape and murder.
After 10 years in prison he discovered The Innocence Project, a non-profit legal organization. With the aid of Barry Scheck and DNA evidence Dennis Fritz was exonerated on April 15,1999 Since then, it has been a long hard road filled with twist and turns and now on his Journey Toward Justice. He never blamed the Lord and solely relied on his faith in God to make it through.
He waited for God's time and never gave up.
Please view my blog called Barbara's Journey Toward Justice at http://barbarasblogspot.blogspot.com Here for more on Dennis Fritz and many issues in his book.or Google Barbara's Journey Toward Justice to find me. Thanks
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