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Bruce refers to himself as a real-life Andy Dufresne (protagonist of The Shawshank Redemption.)
He was sent to prison for life and might have served the full sentence, but The Innocent Project dug into his case and found major inconsistencies. There was a chance that examining the DNA on the evidence would make a difference, but when the DNA evidence was requested, Bruce’s lawyers were told the evidence had been misplaced. Then they were told it no longer existed. Eventually, Bruce was let out, but with his record unchanged. After 36 years in prison.
It’s hard to make much of a life after that, but he’s managing. He’s made a living, found good friends, and is a good friend.
A few days ago, in a Bible study, we were talking about life being a struggle. Bruce said, “We struggle for breath the day we’re born and we struggle for breath the day we die.” A fairly pessimistic way to look at things, but he’s earned that pessimism.
Yet, Bruce hopes for life after that last breath and believes in a God Who will ultimately bring justice and make all things right. Until then we can say, without any of the irony that is often used with the phrase, “The struggle is real.”
Discussion (4)
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I'm not sure that's pessimistic. As someone with asthma, I have a lot of days I struggle to breathe. But life is good, and God is better.
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The sheer number of botched convictions for capital crimes uncovered by the Innocence Project was frightening. I recall George Will writing that if anti-death penalty advocates wanted to cultivate conservative support they should characterize capital punishment as just another badly run government program.
I did some minor pro bono work for denizens of the DC jail a long time ago. The first time I was ushered into the office area, a briefing by a guard advised that there were no cameras and no guards in the hallway to the men's room, that this part of the building had unguarded prisoners present for various appointments and meetings and that I should therefore wait till I left the building to go elsewhere to use such facilities. If visitors were under such risks, what must it be like to be inside, I wondered? (My first pro bono matter concerned a man of limited intelligence and questionable sanity challenging the accusation that he had threatened and harassed a female psychologist. He admitted that he had done all that but still thought the sanctions were unfair. In a great legal triumph, his punishment was reduced though likely not because of brilliant lawyering so much as it was easier to order the reduction in punishment than to have to compose a written response.)
Our prisons seem so often to make convicts worse than when they went in. I don't have any great insights as to protecting the salvageable from the predations and influence of the sociopathic.
A friend of my father did time because his wife ran a household with virtual slave labor from the old country while he looked the other way. She fled the country. He willingly took the rap. He spent his time as a teacher for inmates and doing apostolate. He earned the respect and gratitude of quite a few. I think he must have regarded his time in the slammer as redemption and self-discovery. My father (who visited him on occasion) said the fellow left prison as a morally uplifted man.
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I was selected for jury duty this past year. The first time ever which surprised me as I am 60 years old and vote regularly.
I was pretty surprised and angry at how badly the prosecuting attorney had prepared and presented the case. Myself and one other juror were initially prepared to aquit though it was clear that there was some altercation between the parties, neither seemed guiltless but we were not changing the minds of the others on jury. It was a misdemeaner/disorderly conduct with a fine, but I can imagine how poorly the system can be,
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I think I've been selected at least five times. Never sat on a trial, but have gotten to sit and wait in jury rooms. Being selected for federal was interesting. There was only one trial we were being considered for. I haven't paid attention to what happened with it, or even if it went to trial, but I was not called back after the survey I was called in to fill out.