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Friday, April 10, 2015

The Liberator and the Liberated

This past week, I have been fairly active with the Innocence Project.

I attended a fund-raiser on Wednesday night.  The Illinois Supreme Court Justice who spoke at the dinner following the Red Mass of the St. Thomas More Lawyers' Guild was there.

State Senator Kwame Raoul and State Representative Scott Drury, a former federal prosecutor, both received awards that evening for their work on legislation standardizing procedures for eyewitness identification in cases of serious crimes.  Amendments to the legislation are planned to bring more offenses within the ambit of the statute.

In an especially moving address, Senator Raoul related an incident when he was false identified by an eyewitness when he was seventeen years old.  It was only that his clothing differed from the real attacker that permitted him to walk free on that night.

i spoke to Mr. Drury after the event, and he urged me to contact his office later; which I will be sure to do.  I see him as a like-minded man; a reformer, a true believer.  I too wish to work toward a New Era of Government.  As my readers know, I am wholly non-partisan in this matter-- I am an issues man.  I am quite happy to sail as first mate, as long as I can have a captain I believe in.

Jennifer Thompson and Ronald Cotton spoke that evening.  Ms. Thompson was transformed from a crime victim to a true advocate.  Mr. Cotton showed himself to be a man of true grace and dignity.

The two spoke again at the school the following day, but I was attending class at that time.  I was able to speak with Mr. Cotton later.  I am very glad I did.  I will relate that incident later.

I also spoke with Angel Gonzalez on the stage at the end of the program.  A dignitary from the Mexican consulate attended the event with him.

This was a man kept awake some thirty-seven hours before being given a confession written in a language unknown to him.  He signed not knowing what he was signing.

I told him that I was learning to speak Spanish, so that what happened to him would not be permitted to happen again.

It was that Spanish class I was attending when I missed the appearance of Ms. Thompson and Mr. Cotton at my school.

There remains much to be done.

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