Mr. Conlon's life of false accusation, false testimony and false conviction demonstrated how conscious we must be of the rush to judgement. Conlon spent 15 years in prison -- his father spent three and died a prisoner. His family, including children, were convicted on similar terrorism charges.
Nothing can ever correct that mistake. And yet, we continue to make it. In our fear, we strip away protections and make it easier to arrest, imprison and execute someone.
The British government tried to change the law so that Conlon and his family could be executed. His judge lamented that Conlon wasn't tried for treason, that the judge could sentence him to die.
In January of 1980, Giuseppe Conlon, Gerry's father, innocent of all charges, died in prison. The judge gave him a death sentence.
There was a time where we believed that it was better for guilty men to go free than to convict one innocent person. Now, it's simply a matter of efficiency:
How many guilty men do we get to kill at the cost of each innocent person?
posted by Lachlan @ 4:26 AM
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