THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, October 20, 1995 TAG: 9510200002
SECTION: FRONT PAGE: A18 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Opinion
SOURCE: By JOHN P. SIMANTON
LENGTH: Medium: 84 lines
The verdict has been rendered, O. J. Simpson is a free man. That verdict, along with the crime, the trial and the media coverage, now assumes a place in folklore. Like many another cause celebre, it will be hotly debated as long as it is remembered and be studied and dissected for years to come. It will not lie quietly in its grave.
Watching and listening as debate swirls about me, I am struck by the impression that most of the public is focused on the case itself rather than its wider implications. The headline ``Did the justice system work?'' appeared in the Letters section (Oct. 7). The question we need to focus upon, I believe, is ``Does the justice system work?''
In facing that question, I see much about the system that does work.
Among the people of this nation are literally millions of dedicated law-enforcement and peacekeeping professionals who face both drudgery and danger every day in situations which most of us happily avoid as much as possible. This nation has not suffered the equivalant of the guillotine hard at work in the square, or of purges shoveling masses off to the Gulag or a grave. Death squads enforcing their version of political correctness are not dictating what a person can or cannot say. We have watchdog groups of every description monitoring our nation's authority structure, and these groups do not hesitate to publicly denounce any perceived threat to our liberties.
Billions of humans on this planet cannot say the same. And, yet, we can and must improve. In this century, Americans have witnessed torture and lynching of people suspected of crimes. Overwhelmingly, this occured when the suspect was a member of a racial or ethnic minority. In some cases, law-enforcement officers made brave efforts to protect such suspects, but in all too many other cases such efforts were half-hearted or completely lacking.
People tried for such torture and murder of suspects have been acquitted in the face of overwhelming evidence or juries have been unable or unwilling to reach a verdict. In my own lifetime, it took three decades to convict the murderer of Medgar Evers.
In Dayton, Tennessee John Scopes was convicted of unlawfully teaching Darwin's theory of evolution, prosecuted by the renowned spokesman of populism William Jennings Bryan. Dr. Wilhelm Reich had his books and writings seized and instantly incinerated. Dr. Timothy Leary was sentenced to decades of imprisonment for possession of a single marijuana cigarette.
Recently, Dennis Stockton was executed. Unless the recent coverage of his case by The Virginian-Pilot was massively in error, he was convicted of murder for hire solely on the testimony of a single individual who cannot be regarded as a person of reliable character. That individual was the sole source connecting Stockton to the murder, and his statements were the sole indication that it was a murder for hire punishable by the death penalty. It also appears that Mr. Stockton's legal representation for the trial utterly failed to serve as his advocate. And our commonwealth blithely insists that all relevant evidence can surely be uncovered within three weeks of a conviction.
In the Simpson trial itself, Detective Mark Fuhrman demonstrated a casual willingness to perjure himself. In the extracts of the infamous interview tapes which appeared in the media, he portrays himself as filled with contempt for the legal rights of minorities, and perfectly willing to fabricate evidence to gain a conviction. Unfortunately, we cannot allow ourselves the comfortable view that he is the only member of the law-enforcement structure with such views and with such a willingness.
The fact that Fuhrman could complete a full career in the Los Angeles Police Department and retire is highly disturbing. The Simpson trial demonstrates that money talks, and it talks persuasively. Any one of Mr. Simpson's attorneys would have torn the case against Dennis Stockton to shreds, but Mr. Stockton could never have hired such representation. The widely quoted statistics concerning the high proportion of minorities among the people accused and convicted of crimes, and especially among those sentenced to death, might reflect deliberate prejudice against minorities, but it almost certainly reflects who can afford effective representation and who cannot. As indicated above, the American justice system has kept clear of atrocities committed in the name of justice elsewhere. But it is still vulnerable to abuse. Where the career of a member of the system is furthered by a high rate of arrests and convictions, and is coupled to a willingness to overlook abuses in order to obtain those arrests and convictions, there will be innocents in prison and even on death row. To such prisoners, the idea that things are worse in other countries is very small comfort.
Does the American justice system work? The answer is: not well enough. MEMO: Mr. Simanton is a resident of Chesapeake.
by CNB