Recently, I had someone I consider a very close friend look at the posts I place on this very blog. He disagreed with much of what I had been saying, because he believes that society is much more likely to believe someone who claims to be innocent when the evidence bears that out, that people are tired of sloppy police work, and jurors require real proof of a person’s guilt to convict. I have not been out in the free world in over 25 years and cannot speak to some of his arguments. Nevertheless, the one thing he said to me that really stuck with me is, “many TV shows depicting innocent people being exonerated show that those prisoners who are upbeat, optimistic, and willing to forgive get much more attention and are more likely to be released than those who are consumed by anger and recrimination. I would prefer to think it is not a person’s attitude, but rather the facts of each case that persuades the public to help free innocent inmates. My Mother even says I have become increasingly more negative over the years. I suppose my posts are apparently negative as well.
I will never make an excuse for speaking on what I have experienced. Prior to being incarcerated, I believed in this country. I believed in its people. I truly believed in our justice system. From the time of my arrest, I would have each of these beliefs tested time and time again. Each time, I would have those beliefs shattered. It is not anger or recrimination I feel. It is cynicism and confusion. I have been forsaken by most of my friends and family. The justice system has let me down repeatedly. Each time I have reached out from behind these walls, I have had people judge me not on my character, nor the evidence of my case, but on the charges themselves. I am baffled by the idea that the things I held such strong beliefs in are not what I believed them to be. One thing for a certainty, I have never lost hope. I never believed I would die in prison. I never believed I would not be able to prove my innocence. I have always had one eye on a future after prison. A life I have yet to live. I do not feel any more nor less negative these days than I have in times past. I have lost some of my immediate trust in people. I have seen our judicial system fail over and over. I have even seen this great country make mistake after mistake. Call me a fool, but despite all I have gone through, I still fundamentally believe in all these things. Albeit none of them have come through for me yet.
My cynicism and confusion do not mean I have lost hope. Hope, after all, is the fundamental basis for all optimism and good dispositions. I have routinely stated that a person is truly beaten only when they believe they have been. My hope compels me to keep reaching out. It forces me to keep trying. My words may not reflect my hope, but my actions declare I have not given up.
My blog posts are not intended to insult anyone. I am merely writing about the things I have experienced. I want people to think about what I am saying. My life is not the only one that depends upon people seeing the truth. I would like to know what everyone thinks about this subject. Do you think the upbeat inmates get more attention, or is it those who can show their innocence? If the positive inmate gets more attention, should we be asking why that might be? I justice truly about optimism? Let me know what you think.
I must disagree with everything Shane’s “friend” has to say.
His notion that Pollyanna’s get exonerated because of their attitude is laughable.
I would like to see him back up these claims with facts. But he seems to get his information from “TV shows.”
“TV shows” are a major reason why the public is so grossly uninformed about criminal-justice issues.
I have been working and corresponding with the wrongfully convicted for 25 years.
People need to know about the pain and suffering caused by the failings of our justice system.
Bravo Shane! You tell it like it is.
[…] Read the rest of Shane’s post. […]
Anyone over the age of ten or so should know TV never gets anything quite right. And this is no exception. How on earth does this friend expect people who’ve had their lives unjustly destroyed to be upbeat and positive?
I can maybe see them being especially happy when they’ve been exonerated, since they know what it’s like to lose everything and then get back what matters most. But that is quite different than getting set free because you’re cheerful about your lot in life.