09 Jul 2010
9th Circuit Declares Actual Innocence Irrelevant

Simply unbelievable.

In one of the most appalling court rulings imaginable, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals has decided that the fact that a convicted criminal can now be proven to be innocent does not matter if he filed an appeal in 16 months rather than the 12 months allowed by the statute of limitations. Actual innocence simply does not matter, only technicalities do.

(link) [Dispatches from the Culture Wars]

Update: Simple Justice nails this one:

The public will view this decision, one that demonstrates that innocence comes in a distant second to some grocery clerk's rule, as affirmative proof that the courts are just a part of an omnipotent machine designed to subjugate the public. It's an overwrought characterization, but it's about public perception. Nuanced explanations don't work well with citizens marching with torches and pitchforks. They've usually got their mind made up already.

06:28 /Politics | 1 comment | permanent link