Sorry for the long delay in posting.  Things have been a bit hectic around here but I hope to continue posting regularly.

Here’s what you may have missed in my absence though:

A federal judge in the Northern District of Georgia sentenced Joshua David Lowe, an ex-jail sergeant at the Polk County Jail, to 21 months in prison for beating an inmate who was strapped to a restraining chair.  A fellow jailer and witness to the beating said that the inmate was “spewing blood” and that there was “blood everywhere.”  Lowe pleaded guilty, which, perhaps, explains the unusually lenient sentence.  And let’s not forget that Lowe is a law enforcement officer, after all, who is nothing but well-intentioned.  The case was prosecuted by the United States Attorneys Office, one of several that has been brought by the feds in recent moths (see here and here).  Of course, police brutality against inmates, whether it’s of the violent or non-violent variety, are common, and one wonders why the feds don’t pursue more of these cases.  Because what happens at the county jail stays in the county jail.  Ultimately, it is up to the better officers, those with a conscience and a heart who see their colleagues go to town on an inmate, to break this cycle of secrecy and violence.

Texas continues to make its mark as the capitol of injustice in criminal and death penalty prosecutions.  The 2005 execution of Cameron Todd Willingham who was convicted of setting fire to his home and killing his three children has returned to the media spotlight after Texas Governor Rick Perry took some swipes (some would say unwarranted) at Willingham, calling him a “monster” and a “bad man.”  This came after Perry pulled some strings last minute to change the composition of an official forensic science commission that was about to issue a report on whether Willingham really did commit arson and murder his three kids.  Grits for Breakfast has the story here.  Texas injustice also made news with the release of Richard Miles, who was serving 15 years in prison for shooting two individuals, one of whom died.  The release came after Centurion Ministries, a prisoner advocacy group, uncovered police files that show that someone else – not Miles – had actually confessed to the shooting.  Evidence that was withheld by the Dallas County District Attorney’s Office headed by Craig Watkins.

For more than 150 years, the Atlantic has told the stories of people who commit acts of moral and intellectual bravery by espousing unpopular or controversial positions. In a special issue of the magazine, the editors have chosen 27 leaders—from business and politics to science and media—who embody this great tradition today. These are people who are risking careers, reputations, and fortunes to advance ideas that upend an established order.

Illustration by Quickhoney

One of our favorite picks: Steve Jobs and John Lasseter, Co-Founder and Chief Creative Officer, Pixar Animation Studio.

Why they’re brave: “They haven’t let commercial success stifle their innovation or storytelling.”

Thorkil Sonne
CEO and Founder of Specialisterne

Ben Bernanke
Chairman of the Federal Reserve

Morgan Tsvangirai
Prime Minister of Zimbabwe

Camille Parmesan
Professor, University of Texas at Austin

Shai Agassi
Founder of Better Place

Steve Jobs and John Lasseter
Co-founder and Chief Creative Officer, Pixar Animation Studios

Montgomery McFate
Senior Social Scientist at the Human Terrain System

Freeman Dyson
Professor Emeritus, Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton

Iftikhar Chaudhry
Chief Justice of Pakistan

John Fetterman
Mayor of Braddock, Pennsylvania

Arthur Sulzberger Jr.
Publisher of the New York Times

Craig Watkins
Dallas District Attorney

Henry Greely
Director of the Stanford Center for Law and the Bio-Sciences

Walter E. Hussman Jr.
Publisher of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette

Ralph Nader
Perennial Third-Party Presidential Candidate

Sheila C. Bair
Chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

Paul Polak
Founder of International Development Enterprises and D-Rev

Trey Parker and Matt Stone
South Park Creators

Barack Obama
President of the United States

Mark Zuckerberg
Founder and CEO of Facebook

Danny Day
Founder and President of Eprida

Jim Webb
Senator from Virginia

Jeff Zucker
President and CEO of NBC Universal

Meredith Whitney
Founder and CEO of Meredith Whitney Advisory Group LLC

Alex de Waal
Program Director at the Social Science Research Council

See Atlantic editors discussing the concept of the Brave Thinkers package, and watch videos featuring four of their most fascinating honorees.

L’altro giorno ho letto questa notizia e la prima cosa che ho pensato è stata: “il tempo di maturarla, e anche in Italia vedremo questo reality”.

In America, che in quanto a reality show non scherzano, ne è stato criticato uno ormai prossimo all’uscita, sui detenuti delle carceri innocenti.

Il reality si chiama Dallas Dna Unit, e presenta la vita di persone che sono state realmente incarcerate per un crimine mai commesso, e poi scagionate grazie alla prova del Dna, da cui appunto il nome del reality.

Nonostante il lieto fine delle storie, la critica ha giudicato in modo negativo l’eventualità di vedere realizzato un programma del genere. Si accusa di voler speculare su fatti che restano molto forti e travagliati, soprattutto per le persone che ne sono implicate.

Craig Watkins, sostenitore del programma, si difende invece ammettendo che questo reality non è altro che la migliore giustizia che si possa rendere a chi è stato condannato ingiustamente.

Questo reality è stato girato in Texas, in quanto proprio qui si è registrato il maggior numero di persone detenute e poi scagionate in seguito alla prova del Dna.
Sarà il caso di Johnnie Linsday, condannato ingiustamente per stupro nel 1981 e scagionato dopo 26 anni, a dare il via al reality.

Insomma come sempre vince la forte legge dei reality: più è clamoroso e più avrà successo.
E prevedo, come ho detto all’inizio del post, che anche in Italia la cosa potrà trovare terreno fertile, in fondo anche noi abbiamo i nostri casi ricchi di misteri.

DALLAS DNA UNIT video:

CNN follows 60 Minutes in chronicling the 17 men freed after possibly intentional prosecutorial misfires from Henry Wade’s office by focusing on the latest of the exonerated – James Woodard, who spent 27 years behind bars for a rape and murder he did not commit.

Woodard spent decades behind bars, making impassioned pleas to Wade to look at other evidence. To add insult to injury, turns out Wade’s prosecutors knew all along that there was another person of interest, but were more interested in collecting wins than meting out justice.

Dallas County DA Craig Watkins office is working with the Innocence Project of Texas to examine hundreds more cases. He also feels the prosecutor who handled Woodard’s case – and those like him – should be jailed.

“When individuals intend to cause a person to be convicted for a crime they did not commit, that’s an embarrassment for our profession,” he told CNN.

Woodard agrees.

“I think he should pay a penalty. I paid 27 years. He took my life away from me. What’s the difference if it’s by a gun, by words or by lies. What’s gone is gone.”

I’ve posted before about the excellent work being done by the current Dallas district attorney, Craig Watkins. Reason magazine has a great interview with Watkins covering his work with the Texas Innocence Project and his effort to change the way his office goes about its business.

From the second link:

In 2006, Craig Watkins became the first African-American elected district attorney of any county in Texas history. More interestingly, the 40-year-old Watkins was elected in Dallas County, where the DA’s office has long been known for its aggressive prosecution tactics. A former defense attorney, Watkins says the Dallas DA’s office has for too long adopted a damaging “convict at all costs” philosophy, an argument bolstered by a string of wrongful convictions uncovered by the Texas Innocence Project in the months before he was elected. Watkins ran on a reform platform, and pulled out a surprising victory against a more experienced Republican opponent.

After taking office, Watkins dismissed nine top-level prosecutors in the office. Nine others left voluntarily. He established a “Conviction Integrity Unit” to ensure proper prosecutorial procedures, and began working with the Texas Innocence Project to find other cases of possible wrongful conviction. reason Senior Editor Radley Balko recently interviewed Watkins by phone.

Hit this link to a Dallas Morning News document dump.

From the link:

Dallas County District Attorney Craig Watkins announced this week that documents related to the assassination of President John F. Kennedy were found in a little-known vault in his office. He said his intention was to release them to the public. The documents were compiled by Henry Wade, the district attorney at the time of the assassination. Mr. Wade and his successors never made them public.

Below is one, large chunk of the documents. In the coming days, dallasnews.com will share more of them for your review.

The documents contained here are those that the district attorney’s office made available in electronic form – an estimated 90 percent of all the documents from the vault. Another 10 percent had not yet been scanned when these files were released to The Dallas Morning News.

The contents include transcripts, personal and official letters, newspaper clippings, lists of jurors, police reports, rap sheets, autopsy reports, trial notes, police notebooks, photographs and much more.

The documents appear here exactly as they were received by The News . They are neither cataloged nor indexed, and they are in no apparent order.

Given the volume, we haven’t been able to review most of the files. That’s why were calling on you. Here’s your chance to review never-seen-before materials related to the JFK assassination.

Take a look, and let us know if you see something interesting.

New JFK Assassination Evidence “Found” in Dallas

(Moments before the tragedy, the President, Mrs. Kennedy, and Texas first lady Nellie Connolly are all smiles. Governor John Connally looks surprisingly somber as the motorcade makes its’ way towards Dealey Plaza. November 22, 1963)

15 BOXES OF FILES MAY PROVIDE NEW CLUES FOR RESEARCHERS

In a peculiar President’s Day present to historians, The Dallas County District Attorney’s Office has announced the discovery of a trove of documents relating to the assassination of John F. Kennedy.

Locked away in a man-size safe for 44 years, these rare documents and artifacts (which reportedly include Jack Ruby’s gun holster and the clothing Oswald wore when he was shot) were kept secret from the public for decades — although their existence was certainly no secret to every Dallas County D.A. since 1963.

Among the documents is an alleged transcript of a conversation between Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby, planning the assassination together on behalf of the Mafia. This document has aroused the greatest amount of interest but has also been described as “highly suspect” and immediately dismissed as either a forgery or a possible movie script.

Dallas District Attorney Craig Watkins explained at a news conference today that the documents were “found” in a safe about a year ago — soon after he took office — and that his staff have been examining and cataloging them ever since. Previous DA’s had decided not to reveal the information, but Watkins said his administration is devoted to openness and felt it was “too important to keep secret.”

“It will open up the debate as to whether there was a conspiracy to assassinate the president,” Watkins stated.

(Watkins, elected in 2006, is the first African-American D.A. in Dallas history.)

Ruby, the owner of a Dallas burlesque club, shot Oswald while he was in police custody two days after the November 22, 1963 assassination. The transcript has Oswald telling Ruby, “the [Mafia] boys in Chicago want to get rid of the Attorney General [Robert Kennedy]. … There is a way to get rid of him without killing him. … I can shoot his brother.”

Gary Mack, curator of the 6th Floor Museum in Dealey Plaza has pointed out that Oswald is known to have been elsewhere on October 4, the alleged date of the alleged conversation.

The transcript resembles one published in a report by the Warren Commission, which investigated Kennedy’s assassination and determined that Oswald was the lone gunman. The FBI determined that conversation – again between Oswald and Ruby, but this time about killing the governor – was definitely fake.

Mr. Mack suggested that the transcript in the Warren Commission report was probably used as a model for the one found in the district attorney’s safe.

The conversation published in the commission report was a fake account of a conversation between Ruby and Oswald on the same night at the Carousel Club. A now-deceased Dallas attorney “re-created” the conversation after Kennedy’s assassination for authorities after he claimed he recognized Oswald in a newspaper photo as the man he saw talking to Ruby that night.

“The fact that it’s sitting in Henry Wade’s file, and he didn’t do anything, indicates he thought it wasn’t worth anything,” Mr. Mack said of the newly found transcript. “He probably kept it because it was funny. It’s hilarious. It’s like a bad B movie.”

IS THE TRANSCRIPT BOGUS OR EVIDENCE WITHHELD FROM TRIAL?

William J. Alexander, the only surviving prosecutor from Ruby’s trial for killing Oswald in the days after Kennedy’s assassination, told the district attorney’s office he’d never seen the Ruby-Oswald transcript. But it’s labeled with a sticker that says, “Plaintiff’s Exhibit 27.” Typically, exhibits for criminal trials are marked as state’s exhibits or defense exhibits.

The DA’s office said Mr. Alexander, who rarely talks about the Ruby trial, declined to be interviewed.

While the two-page transcript is most likely fake, District Attorney Watkins says he’s never believed Oswald acted alone.

“You know me: I’m always a conspiracy theorist,” Mr. Watkins said. “It was too simple of an explanation. I don’t see that.”

COUNTDOWN IN DALLAS

The safe also contained a 1967 million-dollar contract with the then-district attorney Henry Wade for a movie about the assassination, and the DA’s assistant has suggested that the Ruby/Oswald “transcript” was part of a proposed movie script.

The film, tentatively titled Countdown In Dallas, never went into production. But the timing of the film’s making is certainly curious.

By 1967, a large segment of the American public had openly expressed disdain for the conclusions of the Warren Commission. Several books suggesting a conspiracy were already on the shelves, and most importantly – New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison was at that very moment bringing murder charges against Clay Shaw for the murder of President Kennedy, the only such court case in history.

As all this concurrent activity was brewing, the need for a big-budget Hollywood film to refute the charges of conspiracy seems more than plausible; something to placate the general public and put their concerns to rest once and for all.

While many suspected that Lee Harvey Oswald and Jack Ruby knew one another, the “transcript” of thier alleged October 4 conversation would have been quite helpful in pursuading the people that although there was some advance conspiratorial planning between the two men, Oswald ultimately was the lone assassin.

The suspect transcript/movie script notwithstanding, perhaps the real hidden treasure within these 15 newly-released boxes is yet to be found. Once the documents are fully opened to researchers (which Dallas officials tell us will be soon), it will be fascinating to see what, if any, previously undiscovered evidence in the case may come to light.

We’ll keep you posted.

(Click here for video of the Dallas D.A.’s press conference from earlier today.)

Copyright RFKin2008.com

Charles Chatman experienced something yesterday that he had never experienced before – using a cell phone. That simple act that we all take for granted was new to Chatman as just a few days ago he was released from a Texas prison – innocent – of the crime he was convicted of.

A portion of the story is reprinted here from the New York Times:

Charles Chatman walked free on Thursday, the 15th wrongfully convicted prisoner in Dallas County to be exonerated by DNA testing since 2001.

The innocence claims of seven other Dallas-area prisoners are pending, thanks in large part to a crime laboratory that, unlike others in Texas, has preserved evidence going back as long as three decades.

“I’m bitter toward what happened,” Mr. Chatman, 46, said by telephone after Judge John Creuzot of State District Court, who had championed a review of his case, ordered him released in a jubilant Dallas courtroom.

“He’s my fourth one,” said Judge Creuzot, who had invited Mr. Chatman to his courtroom on Wednesday to hear the news that a DNA sample recently taken from him did not match the profile from the rape victim’s vaginal swab of 1981.

The judge said that he had bought Mr. Chatman a T-bone steak for lunch but that he had to instruct him how to use a knife to cut the meat — he was only allowed spoons in prison — and later showed him his first cellular phone and helped him call his family.

Judge Creuzot has taken a personal interest in justice. In fact, I would call him an ethics champion for justice. It seems that far too often in the judicial system folks are focused on the conviction and punishment rather than on true justice. Fairly, however, technology has made this possible as DNA evidence – that would have proven Mr. Chatman’s innocence – was not available then. Hence, the jury had only the evidence at their disposal in order to convict.

Mr. Chatman said he harbored no feelings of animosity toward the neighbor who had misidentified him as her rapist, earning him a 99-year sentence. But he said he felt he was victimized because he was black.

“I want to let the world know what happened,” he said, “I won’t shy away from that.”

Mr. Chatman, who had been locked up since age 20, said he had lost three chances for release by insisting to the Parole Board, “I never committed the crime.”

He said he wanted to work alongside his lawyers, Jeff Blackburn, Natalie Roetzel and Michelle Moore, to help others he had met in prison prove their innocence. The lawyers work with the Innocence Project of Texas, a consortium of university law clinics that has been using DNA evidence to exonerate people who were wrongly convicted.

The lawyers and District Attorney Craig Watkins of Dallas County credited Judge Creuzot for taking a personal role in the case. But they also said the unusual string of exonerations was made possible by the many specimens saved by the Southwest Institute of Forensic Sciences, the laboratory under contract to Dallas County, and the latest DNA testing by Orchid Cellmark, a leading genetic research organization.

Sorry…but remember Craig Watkins – he made news of his own when he failed to pay his bar dues. Oh well, the good clearly outweighs a minor mistake. Mr. Watkins made history in 2006 as the first African-American elected a district attorney in Texas (Dallas, TX).

According to their web site, the “Innocence Project of Texas is a consortium of independent projects from Texas Tech University, Texas Wesleyan, University of St. Thomas, University of Texas-Arlington, and the Southern Methodist University Dedman School of Law. These projects, through student volunteers, devote their time to investigating inmates’ claims of actual innocence and working toward freedom for the wrongfully-convicted who would otherwise become lost in the criminal justice system.” See their site for more details: http://www.innocenceprojectoftexas.org/

Mr. Blackburn, chief counsel of the Innocence Project of Texas, said Texas needed an Innocence Commission to officially investigate claims of wrongful conviction. A bill to create a commission died in the Texas Legislature last year.

Exonerations have been making news elsewhere in the country. Since 1973, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, a nonprofit group specializing in capital punishment issues, 126 prisoners in 26 states have been released from death row based on evidence of their innocence. Eight of the cases were in Texas, but Florida led with 22, followed by Illinois with 18, the center said.

As a business ethics speaker, I freely share my experience in prison for the choice I made. While I am not proud of that fact of my life, I do understand that people can use bad experiences to create positive good. Frankly, I can’t imagine what Mr. Chatman will be facing knowing that better than half of his life has been behind bars. I faced an adjustment for the short time I was incarcerated and dealing with the changes that have taken place over 27 years will – in and of themselves – be a feat.

My best to Mr. Chatman. My his life moving forward be blessed and may he find peace in knowing that others saw that the flame of justice was fired and still burns when justice is served for all.

Business ethics speaker, Chuck Gallagher (http://www.chuckgallagher.com) signing off…

Every choice we make has a consequence. It seems that two Texas District Attorneys are making the news for two very different reasons and it’s all because of their choices.

First let’s go to Houston:

It’s a few days after Christmas and what to my wondering eyes do I see, but the Houston DA playing e-mail with (well his secretary it seems).

According the the AP Texas news, Harris County District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal apologized to his family, friends and co-workers when his affectionate relationship with his secretary was released from e-mails he sent.

Before we move through the story…the first point of attention here: E-mail doesn’t go away and one should not say something in an e-mail that they would not want to have made public – or else, you might find yourself in the same hot water that this Houston, TX District Attorney has found himself in.

Here’s a link to the full story:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/ap/tx/5408753.html

Although the DA called the release of e-mails, obtained as part of a federal civil rights lawsuit, “bare knuckle politics.” According the the AP article:

“the district attorney issued a written statement saying the release has been “wake-up call to me to get my house in order, both literally and figuratively.”

“I understand that I have said some things that have caused pain and difficulty for my family, my co-workers and friends,” Rosenthal said in the statement. “I deeply regret having said those things.”

None of the 51 e-mails between Rosenthal and Kerry Stevens are explicit, according to the Houston Chronicle, which obtained the documents before they were resealed. But they contain the phrase “I love you” more than a dozen times, and Rosenthal asks Stevens to let him hold her.

“The very next time I see you, I want to kiss you behind your right ear,” Rosenthal wrote Stevens in an e-mail dated Aug. 10, 2007.

“I always want to see you,” Rosenthal wrote in another e-mail. “You own my heart whether you want or not.”

Rosenthal said earlier this week he is not having an affair with Stevens. He said he had an affair with her in the 1980s when he was married to his first wife, but said the relationship did not lead to his divorce.”

Every choice has a consequence. In this case, the consequence thus far has been public embarrasment and pain to his family and himself.

Of course, there will likely be public outcry from his opponents. That’s to be expected. But the DA is human and subject to human feelings and emotions. The lesson for all is not so much what we think, but how we act on those thoughts. Ethics aren’t defined so much by our thoughts but mostly by our actions.

Now on to Dallas:

In this time of a constricting economy, it is important to pay your bills on time, especially if it’s your annual dues to retain your law license.

It seems that the Texas state bar suspended Craig Watkins’ law license for failing to pay his annual dues on time. Hum, a DA without a license – you gotta find some comedy in that.

Anyway, the story was reported on December 27th by the Dallas Morning News (a link to which follows)

http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/122807dnmetwatkins.59450853.html

Now, Mr. Watkin’s license has been reinstated after he learned that the amount had not been paid. According to the article written by Kevin Krause:

Mr. Watkins apologized for the lapse and said it won’t affect any criminal cases. But he was still under the impression as of Thursday afternoon that he hadpaid his annual bar dues back in September.

News of the suspension sent officials in his office and in other county offices scrambling for answers as to what it would mean.

All criminal indictments and plea bargains are issued in Mr. Watkins’ name.

“It’s a mistake that is embarrassing to me but doesn’t affect the citizens of Dallas County,” Mr. Watkins said.

Watkins has received national attention for talking about crime prevention and supporting using DNA evidence in overturning or reviewing old criminal convictions. In fact, Texas Lawyer named Craig Watkins “Impact Player of the Year.” Excerpts are reprinted below:

…Watkins has every intention of breaking with tradition. He is the first African-American elected district attorney in Texas history, the first Democrat elected Dallas County DA in 20 years, and the first Dallas County district attorney who, in less than a year, has radically altered the traditional law-and-order role of the prosecution.

…Watkins’ focus is as much on preventing crime as it is on prosecuting it. Taking a more holistic approach to his job, he speaks of re-entry programs for ex-inmates and drug treatment programs, as well as garnering the social-service energies of the community to prevent small-time crooks from becoming big-time crooks and to prevent citizens from becoming victims in the first place.

Hey Craig…you don’t need this kind of coverage especially since you do stand for justice. How about putting on your calendar now to pay your dues on time next year.

Remember – Every Choice Has A Consequence. As a business ethics speaker, I know all too well the effect that choices can have on one’s life. My best to both of these men as they have placed themselves on the line for law and justice. There jobs are hard and regardless of anyones political persuasion, we should support those who commit to public service.

Your comments are welcome.