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talkpoliticsAs you may or may not know, Damien Echols has had a date set for the arguments for him appeal set for Sep 30th. Echols is a member of the West Memphis 3 and is on death row.
I am very interesting in the role of the media in condemning suspects and also in potentially bringing injustice to light. Over the years, many celebrities and musicians have come out in support of the West Memphis 3, books and documentaries have been made, but there hasn't been any rush to actually do anything in the courts. There are other well-known cases like Mumia Abu-Jamal and less well-known cases like Charles Dean Hood. A lot of people seem to believe that if there is true injustice, the news will pick it up and people will be outraged. Is this really true? Does it matter if the media reports on these sorts of things or not? It hasn't happened for the West Memphis 3 as much as one might expect, given that almost no one who has looked over the evidence could conclude that they are guilty.
There are also cases like those of Lindy Chamberlain and Amanda Knox , where the media has caused so much bias in the public that a fair trail was pretty much impossible from the start.
How do you feel about this? Do you think you'd be able to be an impartial juror if you'd been exposed to one-sided information beforehand? What can justice systems so to prevent this from taking away a person's right to a fair trial while also not censoring the media? Do you trust the media to report on it when injustice is occuring, especially when it is as serious as putting someone on death row?
I am very interesting in the role of the media in condemning suspects and also in potentially bringing injustice to light. Over the years, many celebrities and musicians have come out in support of the West Memphis 3, books and documentaries have been made, but there hasn't been any rush to actually do anything in the courts. There are other well-known cases like Mumia Abu-Jamal and less well-known cases like Charles Dean Hood. A lot of people seem to believe that if there is true injustice, the news will pick it up and people will be outraged. Is this really true? Does it matter if the media reports on these sorts of things or not? It hasn't happened for the West Memphis 3 as much as one might expect, given that almost no one who has looked over the evidence could conclude that they are guilty.
There are also cases like those of Lindy Chamberlain and Amanda Knox , where the media has caused so much bias in the public that a fair trail was pretty much impossible from the start.
How do you feel about this? Do you think you'd be able to be an impartial juror if you'd been exposed to one-sided information beforehand? What can justice systems so to prevent this from taking away a person's right to a fair trial while also not censoring the media? Do you trust the media to report on it when injustice is occuring, especially when it is as serious as putting someone on death row?
