The Price of Justice?

On July 5, 2011 citizens around the United States and possibly the world were uniting in anger. If you don’t remember, it was the date Casey Anthony was found not guilty of first-degree murder of her 3-year old daughter, Caylee. There were moments and statements of anger from Nancy Grace to friends on my Facebook pages and twitter. Whatever your feelings may be if she was wrongfully accused or wrongfully acquitted the verdict has been made and we really cannot go back. The American justice system states that accusers are ‘innocent until proven guilty’ which is often not the case. The public seems to follow the media firestorms and follow the evidence trail to make their own assumptions of the crime. Which brings me to my question – what is worse: being wrongfully sent to jail for a murder you didn’t commit or being found not guilty for a murder you did commit? I’m sure this will spark some interesting controversy. 

I’m not trying to start a huge debate about the Casey Anthony case because really there is nothing we can do but I was watching The Today Show this morning while I was getting ready for work and a news story caught my eye. You can watch the clip here. They were speaking to parents of a convicted murderer who is working on proving his innocence. Three high school friends were out partying at local bar. Later on in the evening, the sports editor for the Columbia Daily Tribune was murdered in the parking lot of the newspaper. A public outcry was made for a killer and a witnesses testified to seeing two young adults leaving the scene of the crime. Chuck Erickson was one of the partying high school students, who after some time and apparent “clarity” later confessed to police that him and his friend, Ryan Ferguson, killed the reporter. However, if you watch his confession, he tells the police officer that this appeared to him in a dream. Now, Chuck is apologizing to Ryan and Ryan’s parents for confessing wrongfully and that it was just a drunken dream. However, Ryan still sits in jail and has been for seven years. Ever since Ryan has been convicted, his parents have been working non-stop to prove his innocence by launching their own investigation and have found some of their own evidence. So now Ryan’s lawyer, parents and Ryan are working on his appeal and hopefully to set him free.

This is not the first case in which innocent people were put behind bars over circumstantial, witness testimonies or confessions. With DNA technology advancing every day convicted rapists and murders are being acquitted. Which is why I ask the question – which is worse: being wrongfully incarcerated or being set free when you are actually guilty? Furthermore, what does the justice system give back to the wrongfully accused for the time being spent in jail? And I’m not just talking about the time they spent in jail but the friends they’ve lost, the family moment's they've missed, also seeing their name splattered all over the newspapers and their professional careers that were lost over a jury and a prosecution that found them guilty. What do you think would be suitable for payment back to wrongfully prosecuted?

For more information on the Ryan Ferguson case please visit this website. They have the most up-to-date coverage of the case.