COLUMN: "Why I'm leaving The New York Times and a job I love," by Nicholas Kristof, published by The New York Times on October 28, 2021.
GIST: "This is a newsletter I never imagined I would send, at least not until I was old and gray. But I'm leaving The New York Times, after 37 years, to run for governor of Oregon, and so this is my last newsletter. |
"There's unfinished business, of course. I wish I could have been in Kabul when the government fell and the Taliban took over. And I've written repeatedly about the case of a Black man named Kevin Cooper who is on death row in California for the murder of a white family: I believe he was framed by the sheriff's office, and I believe that an open investigation, which was prompted by my reporting, will clear him soon and he will be released after 38 years. I'd love to be able to stand with my reporter's notebook outside San Quentin and cover his release." Publisher's Note: Nicholas Kristof opened the eyes of many of us to the Kevin Cooper's innocence - and the need to to all that we can to block the execution of this innocent man. He can rest assured that the battle to keep Kevin Cooper alive - and see him free and exonerated, will continue in his absence, while he hits the political trail. And I'm offering this esteemed columnist all the space he needs on this Blog - whenever he wants it - to continue advocating for Kevin Cooper. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog. The entire final column can be read at: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/28/opinion/sunday/nick-kristof-farewell.html PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. 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/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog; ----------------------------------------------------------------- FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices." Lawyer Radha Natarajan: Executive Director: New England Innocence Project; ————————————————————————————————— FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true! Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
----------------------------------------------------------------------------- FINAL, FINAL, FINAL WORD: "It is incredibly easy to convict an innocent person, but it's exceedingly difficult to undo such a devastating injustice. Jennifer Givens: DirectorL UVA Innocence Project. |
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