BREAKING NEWS: "Rick Perry Signs On With Criminal Justice Reformers, Raising Specters From His Past".........Former Texas Gov. Rick Perry (R) on Wednesday became the latest potential 2016 candidate to sign on to a growing movement for criminal justice reforms on the right, adding his name to the list of endorsers for a group called Right on Crime.........Reconciling Perry’s maneuver with his record as governor is straightforward in some ways and baffling in others. It isn’t just that Texas leads the league in executions per season, with over 20 per year during Perry’s tenure. It’s that Perry wrongfully executed an innocent man despite receiving scientific proof that the man’s arson conviction was incorrect. Texas convicted Cameron Todd Willingham of setting the 1991 fire that killed his three children, and Perry allowed his execution to go ahead in 2004. But the arson science used to convict Willingham was junk, and Perry knew it. He was given a report debunking the conviction and asked to delay the execution for 30 days so the case could be reviewed. Perry decided Willingham should die anyway. Years later, the only other piece of evidence against Willingham was also debunked. The jailhouse snitch who claimed Willingham had confessed was in a quid-pro-quo arrangement with Willingham’s prosecutor, and lied about Willingham to get a reduced sentence and cash. Willingham’s jurors never heard the evidence that proves he did not kill his children, but Rick Perry received a comprehensive expert report on that evidence from Dr. Gerald Hurst in the weeks before Willingham’s execution. Perry was not asked to absolve Willingham’s conviction, as Willingham’s advocates tearfully recall in the documentary Incendiary. He was only asked to delay Willingham’s death so that the bad science that was sending him to the needle could be scrutinized. A spokeswoman for the then-governor told the New York Times that Perry was thoroughly briefed on the contents of the report on the night Willingham was killed for a crime he did not commit. In the years since, Perry has refused to acknowledge Willingham’s innocence, described him as a “monster” when asked about it, and even interfered with the Texas Forensic Science Commission to derail an investigation into Willingham’s conviction........Perry’s new willingness to make noise about reforming the criminal justice system may signal that he is a changed man. But despite Wednesday’s move, there is no sign that he is ready to grapple publicly with the darker corners of his justice record. There are bigger, more politically challenging policy ideas than drug treatment for parole violators out on the horizon. Sentencing reform, stronger review systems to correct wrongful convictions, and the propriety of capital punishment in a country where forensic frauds and dishonest prosecutors have sometimes thrived will all become flashpoints for coalitions like these. Right on Crime’s guiding principal is that criminal justice policy should be evidence-based and results-oriented, an approach that should lead naturally to support for these more difficult reforms but which doesn’t explicitly endorse them. Perry’s insistence that Todd Willingham was a child-incinerating “monster” and interference with Texas’ best attempt at auditing decades of scientifically erroneous convictions like Willingham’s make it hard to gauge the practical impact of Wednesday’s move."
http://thinkprogress.org/election/2015/03/12/3632825/rick-perry-killed-an-innocent-man-in-2004/
PUBLISHER'S NOTE:
Dear Readers. Due to a 'writing' assignment, I will not be filing fresh posts for several weeks. (With the exception of breaking news;) When I am back in action I will make up for lost time with a vengeance. In the meantime, please keep me up to date with developments and don't hesitate to bring new matters of interest to this Blog to my attention at hlevy15@gmail.com.
Best wishes,
Harold Levy; Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog.
PS: For latest coverage of the Mark Lundy retrial go to: http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/mark-lundy-murder-retrial
PUBLISHER'S NOTE:
Dear Reader. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog. We are following this case.
I have added a search box for content in this blog which now encompasses several thousand posts. The search box is located near the bottom of the screen just above the list of links. I am confident that this powerful search tool provided by "Blogger" will help our readers and myself get more out of the site.
The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at:
http://www.thestar.com/topic/
Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at:
http://smithforensic.blogspot.ca/2013/12/the-charles-smith-award-presented-to_28.html
I look forward to hearing from readers at:
hlevy15@gmail.com.
Harold Levy; Publisher; The Charles Smith Blog;
