Here is your open thread to talk about whatever is on your mind. Chat away.
Here’s a story to give you some thoughts – Texas Governor Rick Perry’s cover-up of the execution of an innocent man. The man’s name was Cameron Todd Willingham. I can’t really do justice to the heartbreaking story, but here’s a short summary.
In 1991, a fire broke out in the Willingham house that killed Willingham’s three children. The arson investigators determined that the fire was caused by arson and that Cameron Todd Willingham, the children’s father was to blame. Willingham was eventually convicted of causing the fire and sentenced to the death penalty. Willingham maintained his innocence and in fact turned down a plea agreement to do life in prison. The problem – the arson investigators used discredited and just plain wrong ideas about arson and fire to make this determination. Willingham’s family contacted a famed fire investigator, Dr. Gerald Hurst, who wrote a report showing that the fire was not arson but was accidental. The report came across Governor Perry’s desk in the request to halt the execution but he reportedly did not read it. Willingham was executed in 2004.
The Innocence Project commissioned a report on the Willingham case, and it was reviewed by the Texas Forensic Science Commission. The commission found the report compelling and set up a hearing to review the case and make a ruling. In effect, the commission could clear Willingham’s name. Just before the commission was about to have the hearings, in which the fire experts were going to testify, Perry abruptly fired three commissioners and replaced the head of the commission with a political ally. The hearing on the Willingham case was postponed. That was pretty convenient for Perry because the report would have come out right before the primary. When will these guys learn that the cover-up is what attracts the attention?