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Re: Infamous injustice, Aug. 22.
In this column, Martin Dyckman excoriates the system that allowed an innocent man, Wilton Dedge, to be convicted of rape and languish in prison for 22 years. DNA tests proved he was innocent, and just as tidily proved the prosecution's team guilty of profound malfeasance. Why is the team guilty? Not just because it convicted an innocent man, but also because it worked so assiduously against his release in spite of that proof.
Rome's government had a neat way of punishing a guard who let a prisoner escape: make the guard serve out the prisoner's sentence. It is time for Americans to insist on a similar punishment for those who obstruct justice by keeping in prison anyone proven innocent.
Yes, Jeb Bush needs to open an investigation, and then throw the crooks on the prosecutor's team in the slammer to serve out the rest of Wilton Dedge's sentence. The same needs to happen to judges who wrist-slap career criminals and release them to inflict more injuries on the innocent public.
Thank you so much for your articles, Innocence lost, and Infamous injustice. Keep trying to educate your readers about the injustices in our criminal "justice" system.
I know many people who don't want to admit (or refuse to believe) that innocent people are sent to prison in our country. However some of these same people will acknowledge that injustice happens only on "rare" occasions.
My goodness - even if the "rare occasion" is extremely rare, doesn't it bother society? Let's look at the "rare occasion" in another light. Florida's current prison population is around 80,000 right now. If the rare occasion occurred to just one half of 1 percent of them, there would be 400 people wrongfully convicted.
The U.S. House of Representatives recognized there are problems when it overwhelmingly passed the "Innocence Protection Act," H.R. 3214. For some reason, a vote in the U.S. Senate has been delayed for S. 1700. I would like to know why this is not a priority. For more information, go to: http://justice.policy.net/cjreform/ipa/
Re: He's the billionaire primed to fight Bush, Aug. 22.
That was some puff piece you did on George Soros, or should I say for Soros? I kept looking for a disclaimer saying this was a paid advertisement.
The writer did mention that Soros has detractors but didn't explain why. He allowed Soros to make vague claims against the Bush administration without asking him to cite any examples.
Soros paints himself as a moderate but few "moderates" embrace all the causes Soros does: abortion, atheism, drug legalization, euthanasia, mass immigration and gay marriage. Soros claims to support an open society and to believe there is no "ultimate truth." However he is currently pushing his agenda for America as though his "truth" is infinitely superior to that of the current administration.
At best Soros is a shadowy figure who wields great wealth and power for motivations that are not clear. Even if you think he is a "great guy," isn't there something wrong with one unelected person having this much influence in our elections?
Re: He's the billionaire primed to fight Bush.
Thank you for the interesting article on George Soros. He is a man ready and willing to fight for rights and freedoms that are being taken away.
Soros says he believes in democracy, open society and political process. So do I. And he sees no problem in funneling his fortune to push for the president's defeat. Neither do I.
Thank goodness that there are people like Soros who see danger coming to America and the world. He's using his money to make a difference.
Re: He's the billionaire primed to fight Bush.
Nothing in this article told me clearly why George Soros was so opposed to George Bush until I saw his quote: "I am passionately opposed to extremism of all kinds - of the belief that you're in direct contact with God... " Could it be that he objects to President Bush's strong faith?
There is a strong anti-Christian movement in this country, where anyone who witnesses to his faith is labeled a "right-wing fundamentalist." As a non-Christian, George Soros has a right to be concerned about anyone who discriminates against him, but he should be honest about the real reason he is spending his millions to oppose a man who sticks to his principles.
Re: He's the billionaire primed to fight Bush.
Interesting: George Soros spends millions to fund an advertising campaign aimed at defeating President Bush, and he is portrayed in your pages as a noble, high-minded citizen. On the other hand, your stories on the swift boat controversy surrounding John Kerry constantly remind us that these ads were funded by wealthy supporters of Republican causes, implying that those people are engaged in some kind of malign conspiracy to subvert the political process. You can't have it both ways.
My conversations with Peggy during her tenure as a Times columnist and editorial board member were always a pleasure. She had an inspiring drive and determined curiosity to get the facts she needed to make the right decisions.
While Peggy was a certainly a pioneer in her advocacy for fair news coverage for our African-American neighbors, her focus was broad and deep into critical issues facing the entire community.
I remember meeting with Peggy in the early 1980s to discuss the treatment of teenagers in the juvenile justice facilities. She had an intense interest in why Florida was warehousing youths in large institutions when more successful program models were being ignored. She was also concerned that the safety of the community was at risk if our treatment programs failed to put these young people on the right path.
Her wisdom was reflected in her outstanding journalism skills, but her legacy is the impact she had on the thinking of policy leaders and advocates.
It is good to read the praise for Peggy Peterman. What seems to be missing is Peggy's demand for "persistent pressure" to be applied for change. She smiled and hugged you, but what changed the community was her enduring power to demand dignity and truth every day.
Peggy's artistic ability as a writer to communicate in rich clear tones brought African-American culture alive to people who had no ability see before she opened the windows. Proper tribute to Peggy Peterman would be to deliver the promised land now so that hate and prejudice would end.