Wrongful convictions happen very often, but this story is so outrageous, it deserves a mention here. In West Memphis, Arkansas in 1993, 3 teenagers, Damien Echols, Jessie Misskelley and Jason Baldwin were framed and sentenced to death (Echols) and life in prison for the murders of three 8 year old boys. They were framed for several reasons. Incompetent police ruined the evidence at the scene. The boys had the misfortune of being considered "oddballs" and members of the goth culture and living in a small town populated by stupid, judgmental, religious rednecks. Even with no physical evidence, motive or connection to the victims, the boys were convicted simply because of their odd reputation. You can learn more details about them on wikipedia and www.wm3.org

Read the "Devil's Knot," great book on the West Memphis Three. As well as the Paradise Lost movies.

The most infuriating part of this miscarriage of justice is that DNA evidence proved in 2007 that none of the WM3's DNA was found at the scene of the crime and yet a circuit court judge still denied the boys a new trial. Just because they were poor and social outcasts, no one cares about them. It appears that John Mark Byers, adoptive father of one of the victims was the real killer, read about it on wikipedia.

Hello Earl:

You don't have to convince me about miscarriages of justice.

excon

Update, these poor men have finally been released, but they had to take an unusual deal called an Alford plea, meaning they had to plead guilty while maintaining their innocence. It's great that they're free but still shameful that the legal system is still refusing to admit they were wrong and screwing them out of compensation. Hopefully they will be able to clear their names someday.