Tim and I really like to watch true life crime shows. We watched one today about a murder of a woman where a mad was wrongfully convicted. He served 16 years in prison before a new sheriff took over and was so bothered by the case that he actually did most of the work to get the man released. They interviewed the man who talked about the fact that he was not bitter, that he felt like he was the luckiest man alive to have a second chance at life. I was pretty impressed at his attitude and his refusal to be bitter.
At the end of the show they reported that he had reached an undisclosed settlement with the prosecuting parties that was reportedly for four million dollars. When I first heard the amount I was shocked, and felt like he had really done well for himself. That is, until I really started to think about the situation. He was wrongly accused, lost nearly everything, and spent over 16 years in prison. Would I trade that for four million dollars...not in a million years. The more I thought about it I realized that no sum of money would make up for the lost life, lost opportunities, lost chances. Money is nice, and can buy a lot of things, but freedom, happiness, no way! What about you, would you give up any period of freedom for the right price?
3 comments:
wow! crazy story. I agree...freedom is beyond a price for me...it is so important! great post. How did the race go this weekend??? hope you are doing well!
I hate to get on a soapbox, but wrongful convictions are something I think everyone can agree are awful. Many of those wrongly convicted get nothing after their release. 27 states give no compensation at all for wrongful conviction. (congrats Utah for being one of the 23 states that do, boo Arizona). Want to help? I thought so. Check out http://www.innocenceproject.org
and support compensation statutes, greater access to DNA, preservation of evidence, or just go read and be inspired by the kindness and forgiveness shown by those wrongfully locked up for years. Thanks for making this post.
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