Read on:
BOSTON, Massachusetts (AP) -- A federal judge Thursday ordered the government to pay more than $101 million in the case of four men who spent decades in prison for a 1965 murder they didn't commit after the FBI withheld evidence of their innocence.
The FBI encouraged perjury, helped frame the four men and withheld for more than three decades information that could have cleared them, U.S. District Judge Nancy Gertner said in issuing her ruling Thursday.
The rest of the story is here.
I know what happened to these men is horrible. Being framed for a crime you didn't commit ranks right up there on the list of truly horrible things that can happen to you. I'm just saying that I look out for these stories, and I've never seen a mistreated Black man get THIS kind of restitution from the government.
Once again we see that ALL Injustice isn't ' equal'.
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2 comments:
That's definitely a lot of money for a situation like this.
And you are correct, most exonerated Black men get nothing close to this... some get nothing at all... I can recall a few cases where the government failed to give them an apology.
However, I think the difference in this case is that:
#1. This was at the Federal level. The Federal government has more funds to provide remedy in these cases.
#2. Few Black men are exonerated from the Federal system. So it's hard to really draw a comparison. Most of the exonerations are at the State level.
#3. In this case, the FBI activily withheld evidence and were directly responsible for framing the victims.
Typically at the State level, where we see most of the exonerations... there is usually no obvious conspiracy to frame the individual.
But that still doesn't completely explain away such a large amount of money. But I think the main reason for the amount was based on the behavior of the FBI in this case....breaching public trust, etc.
Rikyrah, I know exactly what you mean. I also know of cases where black men were realized to be innocent, but got nothing when they were finally released from jail. But with that being said, AI makes some very good points. Points that I would have never considered...
That's why I like blogging. Different points of views often brings about balance.
Thanks Rikyrah and AI.
Angie
www.nuvisionforanuday.blogspot.com
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