If we can’t prevent wrongful convictions, can we at least pay for them?

Glenn Ford
Glenn Ford

source: NYTimes.com
published: 9 April 2015

A few weeks ago, a former prosecutor in Caddo Parish, La., named A. M. Stroud III wrote a letter to the editor of The Shreveport Times that quickly caught fire on the Internet.

Over more than 1,400 anguished words, Stroud apologized for his leading role in the 1984 trial of Glenn Ford, a Louisiana man who was convicted of murder and spent nearly 30 years on death row in Angola, the state’s maximum-security prison, until last year, when his conviction was overturned and he was released.

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Prosecutor apologizes for sending innocent man to Louisiana’s death row

Glenn Ford
Glenn Ford

source: Equal Justice Initiative
published: March 2015

Marty” Stroud III, the lead prosecutor responsible for sending Glenn Ford to death row for a murder he didn’t commit, apologized and called for abolition of the death penalty in an open letter published in the Shreveport Times.

Mr. Stroud wrote in response to the paper’s coverage of Mr. Ford’s struggle to obtain compensation for the nearly 30 years he wrongfully spent on death row.

Mr. Ford was released on March 11, 2014, after the Caddo Parish District Attorney’s office filed a motion to vacate his conviction and death sentence based on new evidence that someone else committed the crime. Louisiana law allows compensation of $25,000 a year capped at $250,000 for the wrongfully convicted, but prosecutors are opposing Mr. Ford’s request.

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High-powered attorney calls for renewed investigation into Chavis Carter death

Chavis Carter
Chavis Carter

source: Region 8 News
published: 11 February 2015

Tuesday night served as a call for a renewed investigation and more attention for the Chavis Carter case.

“When people feel like they cannot trust the local law enforcement authorities, they turn to the federal government to say we want equal justice too,” Benjamin Crump said at New Mt. Zion Missionary Baptist Church in Jonesboro Tuesday evening.

Crump is connected to high-profile cases like Trayvon Martin and Michael Brown.

Carter’s family, now with Crump on the case, is cautiously optimistic that the Jonesboro Police Department will be properly investigated and reviewed.

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