Who I am: On the matter of injustice.

     I wish to post a copy of an excerpt from a letter I wrote concerning the wrongful conviction I underwent and previously wrote about.  It is my hope this excerpt will shed light on the plight of anyone who has suffered an injustice that affects every aspect of that person’s life unlike the bad hair days most people think qualify as an injustice.

     “…Lastly, in your stated understanding of my dilemma about being in Missouri you said that there were many people in my situation.  You may want to rethink saying such a thing to others you are trying to sell your program to as it is an obvious falsehood to anyone in my situation.  You see there are not a lot of people in my situation.  The vast majority of people (well above 90%) I have spoken to about their convictions unequivocally state that they were guilty of the crimes they were convicted of whereas my situation is that I was wrongfully convicted and am suffering the penalties of not just losing the valuable time I had (and needed) to try to build my dreams but all the penalties that follow a felon throughout their lifetime.  My situation is not like “a lot” of others and most people, like you fail to understand this and instead just lump me in with everyone else who have no issue of being a victim of injustice.

     As far as any issues of anger, I do not usually get angry at anything anymore as I’ve pretty much given up hope for anything good and just in this now meaningless life however I have been and still am angry about the wrongful conviction and all the injustices it entails but that is because I was/am a person who devoted several years of my life and was/am willing to die to defend the freedoms this country’s constitution guarantees to all its inhabitants yet those same freedoms which I willing served to protect are denied me by people who similarly vowed to protect those very same freedoms (namely the judges and other government officials).  I do not expect you nor anyone else to understand and I say this because as I have learned from some of my classes that the generations of younger people today have no real idea of the meanings behind the freedoms provided in the constitution.  For instance one student believed the first amendment guaranteed the right to keep churches from meddling in government rather than its intended guaranteed freedom of keeping the government from meddling in an individual’s right to worship in whatever manner they wish.”

     Is it any wonder why it is possible for people to suffer such atrocities by the very government they love and willingly die for when seen in light of each successive generation’s ignorance of those valued rights, freedoms and entitlements.  Time and again we hear our court’s administrators say that their rulings are meant to reflect the changing values of our society.  How can such atrocities be avoided when those we assign to protect our right to justice are ingenuously placing the blame for injustice on our societies changing values?  What these courts need to be doing is providing the justice guaranteed by our constitution in spite of societies ignorance to those freedoms.

     I recently read an article in The Wall Street Journal which castigated our judicial system for allowing foreign individuals from South Africa to file law suits against companies and/or individuals who supported the apartheid South African government which allowed the continued violation of those human/civil rights which are recognized and purportedly guaranteed by the international community in which we now live.  This right of foreigners to utilize our court system is provided by the Alien Tort Laws and the article claimed that we need to rethink our judicial system and remove such laws because we would not like to have a court in another country (I believe it stated Switzerland) to allow actions against the U.S. for the injustices and harm incurred by its past policies on slavery.

     I on the other hand would ask that such a law be expanded to require that such judicial forums be adjudicated by an international panel of judiciaries because as the article has pointed out many of our government officials try to pressure the judges hearing those cases to dismiss the suits to protect the entities targeted in those suits.  I firmly believe that law suits are needed to balance the injustices brought about by industries, individuals, and other entities that cause harm.  While I do not agree with excessive monetary awards I strongly oppose tort reform and such reform is not necessary as our Supreme Court has shown an equally strong belief that they are capable of minimizing such erroneous judgments by placing limits such as limiting punitive awards to ten times the amount of actual damages incurred unless the plaintiff can show that the defendants intentionally, willfully and egregiously committed the atrocities which led to the harm the plaintiff incurred.

     Well I will end by praying that no one else will ever have to go through what I have been through nor feel the emotional upheaval such an injustice can put a person through.  I shall end here with the further prayer that love and peace be yours always.  Amen.