The Call for Innocence and Freedom Again
Leonard F. Peltier once said, “Innocence is the weakest defense. Innocence has a single voice that can only say over and over again, "I didn't do it." Guilt has a thousand voices, all of them lies.” This powerful quote featured in Peltier’s novel, “Prison Writings” that was written in his prison cell reflects on the issue of himself being incarcerated for over 30 years for an action he states he didn’t do. Some may question if it would be mean anything now if Peltier was released and given freedom again. No human being should ever have their life completely taken away from them because of a crime that they did not commit. With this action happening to Peltier, he has found a way through his writings
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He then focuses on the continuing struggle of his people to be treated with dignity and equality and shows how his perceptions and opinions have been molded by his own experiences, from childhood to the harshness of prison life. In his writings he states, “I don’t know how to save the world. I don’t have the answers or The Answer. I hold no secret knowledge as to how to fix the mistakes of generations past and present. I only know that without compassion and respect for all of Earth’s inhabitants, none of us will survive—nor will we deserve to.” This quote perfectly shows the advice of what he can bring to attention if he was ever released. He has learned this source of compassion and respect while being wrongly locked up for all these years and it is something that could be usefully preached through out this …show more content…
Their rights are fully in the guard’s hands. Peltier is an example of how flawed our justice system can be. Whether someone believes in his innocence or not is not the point. The point is that our current system remains flawed despite the insensitive beings that are too scared to take a serious look into the conscience of the victims that are suffering because of our system. It was stated the FBI used illegal tactics and provided false evidence that was used to arrest and convict him. Furthermore, even Judge Heaney, who at one point denied Peltier a new trial and has reconsidered after viewing the full evidence. The FBI use disadvantaged tactics against Peltier and were equally in the wrong during the shoot out at Pine Ridge. After reading all of his writings, the genuine tone of his pledge of innocence was most definitely accompanied. If Peltier could just get one supporter from our justice system, he may have the facts to win his innocence
The psychological abuse that the four suspects were exposed to made them make a wrong confession. In addition, being in an environment where the interrogation room is tight and dark increased the suspect’s anxiety. Moreover, the Frontline documentary stated that the suspects were held in custody for long hours with Robert Ford who used threatening language in order to make them confess. Not only that the suspects made a false confession, but they also told Ford different stories on how they murdered the victim. The coercive interrogatories, led Joe Dick to accept the label Ford put on him and the others. Although Ford was supposed to act just, he acted upon his self interest. Thus, he denied all facts because of fear of embarrassment of being wrong. However, after serving many years in prison, the four suspects were released to face stigmatization and labeling from the society. Indeed, this case proved that there is a malfunction in the justice system and that there’s a need for an immediate
Jacoby can be easily perceived as an upset and alarmed individual who blames the rise of criminal activity in the United States on the failure of the criminal justice system. He cares about people and believes that the safety of individuals is decreasing because criminals are not punished effectively by imprisonment and that some even receive a “sign of manhood” from going to prison (197). Additionally, he is upset that the ineffective system is so expensive. His concern for his audience’s safety and his carefully argued grounds, which he uses to support his claim, create a persona of an intelligent person of
In Pearl Tull’s old age, she starts to lose her sight until she is completely unable to see. Pearl may be the only one within Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant who has gone literally blind, but many of the characters are just as blind emotionally. Throughout Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant, many characters are too absorbed in their own problems and self-pity to notice the problems of the people around them. Almost all of the characters don’t realize how much their actions may have affected someone else, or are oblivious to the fact they did anything at all. When taking a closer look at the story, it could be said that Pearl Tull is the reason behind all of her family’s problems. Pearl is blind not only literally—in her old age—but metaphorically
...that he could only achieve a forum for his message of peace through an act of great violence. It was his hope that the sheer magnitude of his act would express how desperately people needed to heed his call.
In Harry Mulisch’s novel The Assault, the author not only informs society of the variance in perception of good and evil, but also provides evidence on how important it is for an innocent person experiencing guilt to come to terms with their personal past. First, Mulisch uses the characters Takes, Coster, and Ploeg to express the differences in perspective on the night of the assault. Then he uses Anton to express how one cannot hide from the past because of their guilt. Both of these lessons are important to Mulisch and worth sharing with his readers.
Gary Watson shares the true story of the serial killer Robert Harris in his essay “Responsibility and the Limits of Evil”. This inclusive narrative shares of a man who was once a very sensible young boy who found himself on the south tier of Death Row in San Quentin Prison. Through this story, the reader learns first about Robert Harris’s crime and then about his upbringing. Both of which are stories that one could consider hard to read and even consider to be a true story. Those who knew Robert Harris claimed that he was a man that did not care about life. He did not care about himself nor anyone else. Each inmate and deputy, from the prision, who was questioned about
If you been in or around law enforcement or military you properly heard of Lt. Dave Grossman. Lt Grossman is a retired Lieutenant colonel with the United Stated Army. Lt. Grossman is an author that specialize in the psychology of killing. “It’s from a police training conference with Dave Grossman, one of the most prolific police trainers in the country. Grossman’s classes teach officers to be less hesitant to use lethal force, urge them to be willing to do it more quickly and teach them how to adopt the mentality of a warrior. Jeronimo Yanez, the Minnesota police who shot and killed Philando Castile in July, had attended one of Grossman’s classes called “The Bulletproof Warrior” (though that class was taught by Grossman’s business partner, Jim Glennon).” (Balko, 2014)
Most people cannot understand why I have selected Shaka Senghor as an American who’s made a significant contribution in the last decade. I don’t care about the status quo my goal is to reach the outliers of which I consider Mr. Senghor. After spending two decades incarcerated it is mostly what Senghor went through during his sentence that contributed to his conversion. Senghor lived more than 7 years of his prison sentence in solitude confinement which provided him with much time to reflect on his choices and more importantly to examine his life and share what he learned with others.
“How Writers In Prisons Empower Inmates” talks about how some prisoners that write some kind of literature while in prison have a better chance of not going back to prison when they are released. It also talks about how the literature that other inmates write can greatly influence and empower other inmates. The literature of another inmate can really affect someone because the literature is coming from someone in the same situation as them. the inmate can use the literature as advice or just something they can relate to.
Although he enforces the prospect that nonviolence is hard to achieve he also acknowledges sometimes it is impossible all together. Therefore, allocating for the audience to understand that nonviolence does not have to be a pursuit of perfection, but rather a challenge to become better. Consequently, he attributes a sense of normalcy greatly needed to nonviolence. By way of focusing on Jesus as the most prominent figure in the pursuit of nonviolence he gave the prospect an air of unattainability. However, he successfully eliminates that intimidation; thus, nonviolence is able to hold onto some of its strongest qualities, that of will and
In J.R.R. Tolkien's, The Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Fellowship of the Ring is the first novel. The setting of the story takes place in Middle Earth, which is a world Tolkien created himself. It rotates around the One Ring that holds a considerable measure of power, and that power is held by Frodo Baggins. He leaves the shire to keep the ring out of Sauron's hands, which grasps all Sauron's power and if he holds that power again, he can enslave Middle Earth and do incredible evil things. Along their adventure, they meet a man named Tom Bombadil. Tolkien purposely made Bombadil a puzzling character, yet significant. Bombadil is mysterious because he does not have a classification and the ring does
There are many ways to decide what makes a man guilty. In an ethical sense, there is more to guilt than just committing the crime. In Charles Brockden Browns’ Wieland, the reader is presented with a moral dilemma: is Theodore Wieland guilty of murdering his wife and children, even though he claims that the command came from God, or is Carwin guilty because of his history of using persuasive voices, even though his role in the Wieland family’s murder is questionable? To answer these questions, one must consider what determines guilt, such as responsibility, motives, consequences, and the act itself. No matter which view is taken on what determines a man’s guilt, it can be concluded that Wieland bears the fault in the murder of Catharine Wieland and her children.
His right as a citizen needed to be protect. Nevertheless, he still need at least some money to fight against injustice. Because of poverty, the only thing he can do as an innocent street teenager is to suffer the long-time staying in jail. If he had responsible parents, he would not be abandoned in the jail with nobody care for him. Teenager period was a crucial threshold for him, all he need is a guidance from his parents about how to be a mature man. But he was not the only one who suffers from his race. After several years in prison, he writes, “I began to see who I was in a new context, with a deeper sense of responsibility and love for my people”(225.) After seeing so many his people in prison and his people’s suffering outside the prison, he sees his people and himself in a new context in the racial and historical level. He can say parts of his struggle was from his parents. But for his parents, the society never be good to them as well. Historically, American society is so mean to his people. In the book staying in the prison years of time is one of the biggest suffering Baca
If we are to be truly innocent and humble beings, we must recognize our own innate guilt as human and accept it. If we do not, we will constantly be obsessed by our “state of apparent acquittals”. Kafka, Franz. A. The Trial. Trans.
And when many of the prisoners tried to peacefully protest these cruel conditions, they were repaid with brutal force. This seems to be an unlikely way to reform or rehabilitate anybody It is believed by many human beings that what goes on behind prison bars is not happening in the society where we live; It is said that prisons are a microcosm of society, what happens in reflects the macrocosm. Comparing and contrasting, what go’s in prisons happens to us on the outside as a