Wrongful Convictions: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver (HBO)
John Oliver explains why it’s so difficult to be exonerated for a wrongful conviction, even when there’s compelling evidence to prove your innocence.
Florida Action Committee
With Unity Comes Change
It is so difficult because they know they are going to be sued and don’t want to pay out the money. I saw a case of someone who was found not guilty after being in prison for over 20 years. They only agreed to release him after signing paperwork stating he would not seek any compensation.
This was quite a few years ago before people really had a voice. I wonder how many people are in prisons and jails that are innocent and the people who actually did the crime and walking around with a big ole grin on their faces, giddy that someone else is doing their time.
Hey Cherokee where does FAC get these articles. Are we not all guilty of something or who’s bearing false wittness in a lot of this plea deal or get out of jail. Should the trapping or entrapping fit the crime. Wow government doing trapping and entrapping just for some public safety measure, So what is public safety putting a hedge around ones’ rose garden.
While I can’t understand this John Oliver or this Harvey fellow its all a gilts show type of vice via this internet. Lets see, you have lying, deception, deceit, enticement, badgering, and should many say does the registry actually protect anyone in this type of internet con game induced by Law by these disrespectful methods or who reaps what they sow. There is a lesson in all this. So who’s doing the evil or whos’ doing the wicked.
Saddles
Good to see you posting again. Haven’t seen you in a while and was worried about you. Sometimes I disappear for a while as well as sometimes this all just gets frustrating. We seem to get a win, then get our hopes crushed.
CherokeeJack
Sorry for taking years or decades of your life, but before you leave please sign so we don’t have to pay you for our incompetence. I don’t know if I rather see a huge payment, the POS’ in prison, or both. Part of the problem is officials have gotten away with it for decades and it just emboldens them. Now if it gets out to the public and they wake up from their slumber, maybe things will get done. Where’s Jack Brown and Eric Bates for the story? Name the movie with those characters.
Brandon
Wow. I am a movie buff but am having to think. My two favorite prison movies are Shawshank redemption and The Green Mile.
Both of those of course are fiction and not based on any real characters. I guess you got me, not sure what movie they are from but probably saw them. I am a huge movie watcher and watch about 4 movies a week. I wait till they come out on video and get them at the library at no cost.
The good thing about watching them at home is, you can pause the movie to get a snack, go to the bathroom or argue with the dog because we didn’t watch “It’s a dog’s life” LOL Try doing that at the theater and their $11 popcorn.
CherokeeJack
I commented what movie those characters are from, yet it wasn’t approved. Seems like here we go again with the censorship. Did you report me for stumping you? Ugh I’m going to suck it up.
Comments about movie characters are not on topic.
Brandon
Yes they do not want this to be an endless chatroom that takes up the moderators time approving. Although I agree with that to a point, I do get Extremely frustrated when they allow haters to come on here and talk about how those on the registry should be murdered.
FAC states they allow it so others can see how we are treated. My statement is, no it shows other bad actors that, that is an accepted behavior by FAC and that anyone can come on here and harass us.
Guys – I moderated your comments.
Please reference this post: https://floridaactioncommittee.org/moderation-of-comments/
Then, please consider some of Brandon’s posts which were moderated out (ie: deleted) just yesterday, “Jack Brown and Eric Bates are characters from The Toy(1982) staring Jackie Gleason, Ned Betty, and Richard Pryor. It’s a good watch with humor that’s if your not easily offended by crude jokes. I watch it on Blue Ray whenever I need a laugh.”
That was after I previously allowed several posts through but wrote, “Comments about movie characters are not on topic.”
This is a public forum where people come to discuss registry issues. I completely agree that those were wonderful actors and a great film. I am not censoring your point of view, I’m trying to keep this thread on topic.
Please also consider another of Brandon’s comments from earlier this week that got junked, “I have no faith in Florida and I hope the state becomes a s*** stain of our country and I have no faith in Florida’s voters because they allow this s***. Florida needs to rot in Hell and Senator ***** Is a good for nothing fat ass b****.” Note that I inserted the *’s the original version contained the senator’s name and all the cursing.
Our code of conduct requires, “Members are required to treat other FAC Members, politicians, police, probation officers, treatment providers, members of the media as well as all third parties with whom FAC interacts, with respect, dignity, honesty and fairness”. Calling a senator a “fat ass b****” is not treating others with respect. If Brandon would have written, “I disagree with Senator **** and think her bill is completely misguided because X, Y and Z” of course it would have been allowed. But not as it was written.
As one of the moderators of the forum, I realize my task is somewhat subjective. If, after you’ve read through the code of conduct and read the rejected posts I shared above, you think I got it wrong, please reply and I’ll consider your thoughts.
CherokeeJack
Sometimes I take things to the extreme especially when I’m frustrated and want to vent; which feels good at the time but in the end makes me misrepresent myself. When someone asks a question or @ you it’s my natural instinct to respond even if it’s off topic. Most of time I don’t read every comment someone makes, so I’m unaware of certain details. Honestly I forget this a forum and for me it’s been a place to vent and have conversations with others in your shoes. I can’t imagine what’s it’s like to be a moderator and the decision of allowing a comment or not has got be frustrating. I’ve never meant to be that person and now I feel horrible about the way I conducted myself.
To FAC #3 sorry for any of the stress or frustration I may have caused you.
it’s ok
TO: Brandon and FAC
A round of hugs are in order 🙂
Ok after watching the video
#1 Make sure there are no children/grand children around while you watch, a LOT of foul language.
#2 I am not sure John Oliver is a lawyer or not but if he is/was, I would have loved to have him on my side. He says it like it is.
#3 Towards the end, the lady who is set to be executed due to a forced confession, man that resonates with me. I asked for a lawyer not once, but THREE times and was denied. When I finally got a lawyer (on my own) he never brought that fact up in court. When I wrote the judge from prison, she wrote back “Too much time had gone by and you had your chance”.
#4 The system is broken. When there are bad guys and gals getting released 20 or more times due to overcrowding to make room for more sex offenders who forgot to register an email address they haven’t used since high school, something is very wrong.
Cherokee, regarding #4 one of my prison friends put it very well. “The justice system ain’t broken. It’s fixed.”
ED C
Or Rigged, Corrupt, Biased, Blind (to the truth), Prejudice, Contemptible, and……………… The dictionary does not lack words that I could keep typing ad nauseam, but I do not have the 5 hours to add them all here.
Correction it wasn’t this episode but something similar. But Innocence Project has been all over this story for a while now. They specialize in working to get wrongful convictions overturned. Definitely an organization it’s good to be familiar with.
John Oliver is 100% right on but do you expect anyone who’s in the position to do anything about it to do anything when it’s presented in a comedy form. I mean it’s just peoples lives that are being destroyed. Who cares about that? Certainly not law enforcement obviously.
I’ve been through everything he mentioned and can testify ,it’s accurate but nothing you can do unless you have more money than the state.
Joe Biden even in the 90s admitted is wrong but voted for it for no doubt political reasons. Maybe if someone could make him sit down and listen to the program and confront him as to “what are you going to do about it”? If he still cares.
I usually don’t say this but here it is. I Iove this guy .. if we had just a couple guys like this on the news media .. this will be a different country. He is on point.
cops, politicians, and courts don’t give a frog’s croak the system is beyond broken. All they care about is bodies in beds throughout jails/ prisons cause they get a profit. They should be sued for being the true criminals and have their asses fried for corruption. I doubt anything will be done because our country doesn’t give a damn about Freedom and can’t admit when they routinely f up.
@ Brandon:
I don’t think they care about bodies in beds so much as much as convictions and years sentenced. For those purposes, they consider the registry a life sentence to fluff their resumes even while they call it a non-punitive regulatory scheme.
Look at the opposition led by Mississippi AG Lynn Fitch (rhymes with …) to the ALI’s Model Penal Code. Her primary complaint is that the proposed reduction in applicable offenses and register-able periods make prosecution of sex crimes more difficult. But, not one single word of the ALI’s proposal had anything to do with the burden of proof or anything else required for a conviction – it only addressed the penalties imposed once convicted. Penalties ostensibly are laid out by the legislatures in general and imposed by the courts in specific cases, not prosecutors.
Brandon and CherokeeJ,
I am Sure Our Esteemed Colleague, CherokeeJ, Could Expound ON this For Hours Upon Hours….
In My Humble Opinion, A lot of the Negative Actions By LEO’s Upon People like Us is Based on Monetary Grants that Must Be Spent; So A Report/Action Must be Written Up and Validated and Verified By the LEO’s as to What They Did so they can Continue to Receive the Monies on an Annual Basis…
-Basically to Show Face—-that they are not always eating donuts and drinking coffee….Plus Food is getting more expensive! HA!
I concur with your “humble opinion.” I would add that I wonder why more advocates do not mention that registrants are the “Cash Cow” for the the entire Legal Industrial Complex. Legislators must make new laws to justify their existence and citizens required to register are such easy targets. This same exploitation trickles down through prisons and staff, probation and parole, all the way down to police, sheriffs, and marshals. Perhaps even worse are prosecutors who can manipulate the law with no consequences.
Truth
My main contribution to your question about law enforcement and funding would be the following. This is especially relevant in smaller cities and towns that have their own police departments. If you pull records from some smaller cities, you will often see they write up to 50 times more tickets than larger departments.
Now one would think larger departments would write more tickets since they have more officers. The answer lies mostly in the fact that small cities and towns have smaller budgets. If they want to hire a new officer or replace a patrol car, that alone can eat up almost an entire budget. To make up for that, pressure from the top suggest more tickets be written.
If you have ever been pulled over for going 38 in a 35, some officers will fudge a bit and say you were doing 40 in a 35. Also we all know that School and construction zones are a zero tolerance exception and you can literally get a ticket for going 32 in a 30.
Even while on the registry, I have only gotten one ticket, I went to court and fought it and won. I suggest if you get an unfair ticket you fight it in person if you are a confident person. In larger cities most of the time the officer doesn’t even show up because that takes an officer off the street. If they fought every single ticket, there would be no officers on the street.
Even if you lose, most of the time there is no additionally penalty, you just have to still pay the ticket. And here is the biggie. If there are no other witnesses and the officer doesn’t show up, most of the time the judge will throw the ticket out. Keep in mind though, if you fight a red light or speeding camera ticket, you better review the footage before you go to court as they can come back to bite you. Cameras are even better than an officers words because cameras do not lie, unless a hacker altered it which mostly doesn’t happen.
Finally, you have a right to fight a ticket, just like you do a charge. No need for a lawyer on fighting “Most” tickets other than say you got arrested for hitting a car that caused death or bodily harm (You might want a lawyer for that). I helped an elderly friend with fighting a ticket (He passed away a few years ago) and I told him just what to do in court and he got the ticket tossed.
Spinning back around to how the registry is related to all this, the registry was a wind fall for many departments. Just like when Military surplus equipment was becoming available to departments. What does a city or town with 4 officers need a anti-assault vehicle for? To take over a larger city?
But yes, even smaller departments are requesting and getting registry enforcement funding. They get that money and hire an additional officer they normally couldn’t afford. As long as “Supposedly” 51% of that officers job revolves around compliance of the registry.
So in theory, a department could double their staff with these funds. And I am pretty sure there is not a lot of verification going on, so some small cities might not even have a single registered person in the city limits and still get the funding. That is called fraud, which the last time I looked, is a crime.
Cherokeejack
I can verify you are right on . Fought tickets twice and won both times. Don’t know about the newer radar guns but the older ones were only accurate 90%. And if the officer is moving it’s hard to verify that even. Many other factors also come into play.
As far as the money they spend on registry details , I’m sure they fudge there books to make it look like there spending a lot more on registry compliance and other related items than they really are. Like when they are really working on something else but to get extra funds they will cook the books.
David
You reminded me of something I forgot to mention. Sheriff’s offices and some police departments may or may not send an officer to fight the ticket as their officers would be in court every day. The exception to this is the Florida Highway Patrol. They pretty much always show up.
Having said that and even knowing that, My mom got hit by someone and the judge tossed the case against the woman who hit my Mom because the trooper never showed up. Good for the woman who got, Count them, FIVE tickets in that case, and all were tossed due to the trooper not showing up for court. Mom had to file against her own insurance and then they dropped her.
It’s very nice to see Oliver reporting and taking this stance. In the past, I’ve not agreed many times with the content of his shows, but he hits it pretty hard and dead on here. Brabo
You know, I keep hoping someday, someone like John Oliver or Michael Moore would cover the absurdity of sex offense laws.
Derek
To me it seems a double edged sword. On the one hand we want coverage and to get the word out there for our cause and plight. On the other hand it brings out all the haters and the law makers who are damn determined to undermine all our progress. For each win for our cause, a new law comes out twice as harsh as the last one.
And even those who advocate for us, get pressure from higher ups to stand down or even down right threats to themselves and their families. Some think this is a game with the registry, but from personal experience myself and even you know, people truly want to do us physical harm.
Ever saw the movie Dr Strange? At least go to Youtube and look for the “Dormammu, I’ve Come To Bargain” scene if you’ve never seen it and never want to see it.
This is how I feel about the last few years. I’ve had my life threatened, been falsely accused of stalking and theft, and hit with SLAPP suits, I’ve had my name dragged in the mud even by members of this movement, I’ve had multiple websites devoted to taking me down, and yet here I am, and “I’ve come to bargain.”
I’ve already taken the worst of it. What’s anyone else’s reason for not coming to bargain.
Derek
Everyone is different and have different roles. Not everyone can be a Hero but many can be supporters. Their are those on the frontlines, and those in the shadows. There are leaders and followers. Outspoken and the shy.
Although anyone on the registry and their family all want this to end, not everyone has money to give (Many on the registry are homeless). We all have different roles to play. I try and encourage those who want to give up and not let the enemy win.
Now even for me, watching the people of Ukraine not just fold and let the sleeping giant win. It is so inspiring to watch the citizens stand up and battle against Goliath like David did in the Bible.
Derek
I admire your outspokenness and courage to say what you believe even if others find it offensive. This movement isn’t about offending others and we should all come together regardless of our differences. On here and other forums I’ve had my comments censored; which sometimes I type the wrong thing and sometimes I’m like what’s wrong with what I wrote. Personally I’m not here to offend people, but I can see the other person’s viewpoint and sometimes I found comments that made me mad. You’ve done a lot for Florida’s registrants even if FAC didn’t stand shoulder to shoulder with you even if they disagreed with your approach. Keep doing what your doing and never stop being Derek the Outspoken from OnceFallen.
Then there is this case https://www.news4jax.com/news/local/2022/05/20/mans-conviction-in-1986-sexual-battery-of-4-year-old-girl-vacated/