YOU Wednesday Watch On InjustIce YOU

Bill Bastuk Jeffrey Deskovic

Editor

Dannielle Hille

17 October 2012
vol. 2/No 73

IT COULD HAPPEN TO YOU!

President ICH/Y

Communications Coordinator

For wrongly convicted, only a ticket home

Exce rp te d f ro m Re po rt in US A To d ay W edn es d ay Se p te mb er 25, 2 0 1 3 by B r ad H ea t h

Former inmates abruptly freed after spending up to six years in federal prison even though they were legally innocent are coming home with less help than the government typically provides the guilty after they are released. The federal government is not required to help these, formerly incarcerated wrongfully accused search for jobs or find basic necessities such as clothing and a place to live. Although these individuals were incarcerated for crimes they did not commit, they are not even afforded the same assistance the guilty routinely get during their post-prison supervision. Judges in North Carolina have so far ordered the government to release 17 inmates in one of the largest episodes in recent memory of federal prisoners having their convictions overturned. It follows a USA TODAY article earlier this year that identified 60 people incarcerated for gun possession even though a court later determined that they had not committed a federal crime. The US Justice Department had originally argued that they should remain in prison anyway, but reversed its position last month in the interests of justice, according to court records. Dozens of other inmates from North Carolina are still waiting for judges to decide whether their convictions should be thrown out too. Most states and the federal government provide some help in finding social services once someone has served their full prison sentence and is released on parole, though that help is not available to people whose convictions are overturned. As if being wrongfully convicted and sent to prison wasnt bad enough, the government then tosses these individuals out on the streets to fend for themselves, an action that further victimizes them. To read Brad Heaths entire article click HERE. Also learn about the first hand experiences of one wrongly convicted 32 year old woman mentioned in Brad Heaths September 26, 2012 USA TODAY article by clicking HERE.

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Officers- Bill Bastuk- Founder Roseanne Corrigan- Vice President Steering Committee- Paul LaBarber- Art Directions, Etc. Alice Green- Center for Law and Justice Melanie Trimble- NYCLU Gabriel Sayegh- Drug Policy Alliance NY Lisa Schreibersdorf- Brooklyn Defender Services Don Thompson- ETKS Defense Pam Booker- Prison Families of NY Jeffrey Deskovic- The Jeffrey Deskovic Foundation For Justice David Kaczynski- New Yorkers for Alternatives to the Death Penalty

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