How do we get excellent stories like this into the broader narrative in America? This is a story that needs to be read carefully. If somebody were to edit this down into a 10 second segment fit for insertion into the nightly news I don't think it would pack as much punch.
It seems like stories on 60 Minutes are the closest I've seen to hitting the mark.
This is one story that is part of a larger story cutting across the country. I don't know anybody republican or democrat in America that would think being jailed for two years without a charge is acceptable. This is the right time for America to deal with these _moral_ issues.
I started the story after a friend, who is a social worker and civil rights activist, told me that he knew several kids from a large Crew Cut raid in Brooklyn, and that they were good kids who had left the city for college, but been dragged back by a conspiracy indictment relating to a crew they left years earlier. Very similar to Asheem's situation.
As I worked on the story for two years I became pretty depressed at times. I mostly write about technology - new gadgets and startups - which keep me feeling generally excited and optimistic about the future. With this story i really came to grips with the way the deck is stacked against poor people, doubly do for poor people of color growing up in high crime areas.
I didn't come away from this thinking anyone was 100% guilty or innocent. But I certainly know, based on what I was like in high school, that I would have made the same or worse choices as these two boys if my teenage reality had been like theirs.
Did the DA offer just one plea deal or was a series of offers made over the time Jelani was in jail? This seems to me like the DA was using pre-trial detention as a pressure tactic.
Apropos of the "your DNA was found on a gun" thing, what are the standards of evidence for charges that don't go to trial and plea deals? Can the DA/police essentially make something up, offer you a plea deal, and then -- if you confess and take the plea -- never follow it up with any real proof?
I'm curious because -- knowing nothing about forensic science -- that statement sounds really weird, and regardless of whether it's a sensible statement or whether it's true in this individual case, I'm curious if there's a loophole that lets the police badger suspects with non-existent evidence.
The DA needs to present enough evidence at a grand jury to get an indictment. After that, at least in NY, much of the evidence does not have to be shared until trial. Plea deals in these big crew conspiracy cases often occur without the defendant seeing much of the evidence against them.
Do any DAs in any case seem to care at all about what they're doing to the future of anyone in the name of being "tough on crime?" Regardless of the situation.
It seem that a fair number of them consider their jobs as simply to prosecute the person in front of them, not get to any kind of truth or justice.
DA is a political stepping stone, so you convict everything in sight and hope your cases get press so you can shamelessly self promote your tough on crime image.
It seems like stories on 60 Minutes are the closest I've seen to hitting the mark.
This is one story that is part of a larger story cutting across the country. I don't know anybody republican or democrat in America that would think being jailed for two years without a charge is acceptable. This is the right time for America to deal with these _moral_ issues.
I hope your story takes off.