“They say justice is blind? That’s because someone turned their head.”
I don’t really believe in heaven and hell, but a part of me hopes that there is special place somewhere in this universe where scum like Henry Wade will rot for all eternity. If the name Wade sounds familiar, it should. Roe vs. Wade, anyone? He was also the prosecuting attorney in the trial of Jack Ruby, who assassinated Lee Harvey Oswald. Henry Wade was elected as the Dallas County District Attorney in 1951 and remained in that position until retiring in 1987. Many agree that he and his associates held little regard for the guilt or innocence of many of the people they prosecuted. It was all about getting the conviction. “Convict at all costs” is a term you’ll hear over and over again in stories about his years as the Dallas Co. DA. In a nutshell, he was a despicable and deplorable human being, a man without ethics, a man who would knowingly withhold and/or overlook evidence when he wanted to put someone away. The system was royally fucked (pardon me) due in no small part to him and his inexcusable reign of terror, for lack of a better term. To date, seventeen people that were convicted during his tenure have been proven innocent. Seventeen. Unfuckingbelievable. (Pardon me again) Here is a small part from a 60 Minutes story that aired this weekend :
“You’re saying that prosecutors had evidence that suggested innocence, and they didn’t pass that on to the defense attorneys?” Pelley [the interviewer] asks.
“That’s correct,” Moore [lawyer for The Innocence Project of Texas] says.
“But that’s the law, isn’t it?” Pelley asks.
“It is the law, but there’s no penalty for prosecutors who don’t give over evidence. You get a slap on the hand but you still get promoted because you got the conviction,” Moore says.
“Prosecutors break the law, pay no penalty,” Blackburn [another lawyer for The Innocence Project of Texas] says. “Men get wrongfully convicted, and they can’t get out because the system conspires to cover up their case. That’s a crooked system.”
If you think “innocent until proven guilty” means anything anymore, I think you’re sadly misguided. This is one of the most tragic examples of how dozens (if not hundreds) of people have been declared guilty until proven innocent, their freedom taken thoughtlessly away by men who held the power to make it so. And I’m not talking about serving a few months and then getting out - I’m talking about men who served DECADES for crimes they did not commit. It makes me sick to my stomach.
The Innocence Project of Texas works tirelessly to exonerate many of the people that Henry Wade and the Dallas County DA wrongfully imprisoned. After the recent election of Craig Watkins, the Innocence Project joined forces with the Dallas County District Attorney’s office in order to go over old cases where injustice may have occurred. I have been following the stories on this unprecedented partnership, and I have to say that Craig Watkins (though he is not without his own controversy, a cursory Google search will help you out here) is one of the best things that has ever happened to this city’s wrecked legal system. I applaud his efforts and think he’s doing something pretty amazing, when he could easily turn a blind eye.
I encourage you to watch the full 60 Minutes segment to learn more about the men who have been freed and about what The Innocence Project of Texas along with the Dallas County DA is doing to right the wrongs of a corrupt system. This will break your heart, but I think it is uplifting at the same time. At least someone out there is doing something to help these people. By the way, the website for The Innocence Project of Texas is also fantastic, so please take a look if you have a few minutes to learn how you can donate to this wonderful cause.
And don’t get arrested in Dallas. I’m just sayin’.
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