This whole Troy Davis mess has got me to thinking. If you’ve been reading this blog much, you know how I think the state of Georgia is backwards in the legal department. Remember Sherrif Buford T. Justice [played by Jackie Gleason} in the movie “Smokey and the Bandit”? Yuppers…that’s Georgia’s legal system…bloated…inefficient…except reality isn’t as funny as the movies.
It’s pretty obvious that Troy Davis was wrongly convicted. But you know what bothers me more? He was wrongly accused. If he hadn’t been wrongly accused, then he never would’ve been wrongly convicted. Think about that for a minute. Here’s a man, Troy Davis, that has had THREE dates with death set only to have them postponed. One of the times was within two hours of his execution.
But it seems like Georgia’s legal system isn’t the only one that’s screwed up. There’s a magazine that comes out MONTHLY about people that have been wrongly accused and wrongly convicted. Don’t believe me? It’s called “Justice Denied” and you can find it at www.JusticeDenied.com. So many wrongful accusations that they actually have a MONTHLY magazine to report it! Our system isn’t just broke…you can fix something that’s broke…but you can’t fix the legal system here in the states.
I’ve been wrongly accused of things before…it’s no fun. You’ve got everyone looking at you, wondering about you, watching you. Now don’t get me wrong…I’ve done alot of stuff in my 50+ years that I didn’t get caught for…but to be accused of something when you’re innocent? That gives a person the worst kind of taste in their mouth.
It’s bad enough that the cops, District Attorney, the Judge, the jury and others would wrongly convict someone…but remember, they wouldn’t have been wrongly convicted if they hadn’t been wrongly accused.
Troy Davis isn’t alone in this situation. Almost every month or so we read or hear about people released after years and years in prison. New evidence turned up…DNA tests showed they weren’t guilty…the true criminal comes foward for his or her own reasons and confesses…someone gets paperwork straightened out that had been screwed up…the list goes on.
Jesus was wrongly accused. Even the dude, Pontius Pilate, that Jesus was brought to washed his hands and said, “I see no guilt in this man”. Remember the thief on the cross? His friend was berating Jesus and the theif said, “shut up man…you and I deserve to be here, but He hasn’t done anything wrong”. Seems like everyone from the Grand Poobah on down recognized the fact that Jesus was wrongly accused.
Now, I don’t think that all people that are wrongfully accused end up in prison or on death row. But I think that in some ways, something worse happens. Marriages break up. Children are set agains the parents. Friends end their relationship. People are fired. Families lose their homes. Reputations are ruined…sometimes irrevocably.
I guess my prayer tonight is that I might never cause a person a sleepless night by wrongly accusing them. And even if I’m 110% right, then give me the strength God to approach them as Your Word guides. And if I’m wrongly accused, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change.
*A Google search on the phrase “wrongly accused” returns 688,000 entries!
