Errol Morris, the Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker, made a little movie back in the 1980s called The Thin Blue Line. It’s an investigation of the murder of a Dallas police officer, and its findings led to the release of Randall Dale Adams, who had been wrongly convicted of the crime. Adams came within days of being put to death for something that he didn’t do.
I decided to ask Morris if he’s been following the case of Cameron Todd Willingham (he has) and what it says about our justice system. He said:
My view is that the death penalty encourages mistakes. It’s not just ‘mistakes can happen.’ It engenders them. And Texas, as we all know, has been enthusiastic about the death penalty. Not just in passing new legislation, but in the number of capital murder cases and convictions and death warrants and just in the number of executions.
And he raised an interesting line of argument. To crudely paraphrase it, these capital cases involve horrific tragedies for which the community demands some justice (e.g., a dead cop, or three dead little girls). And because of that, investigators go to extraordinary lengths to find someone that they can punish. Morris’ words again:
If there’s a choice between no case and a case, unfortunately it becomes very easy for the human mind to find justifications for making one decision, one preferred decision, rather than another.
5 comments
There were three “dead little girls”.
Apologies. It’s been corrected. Thanks.
Waiting with baited breathe for D Mag to comment on DMN’s extensive article on the Willingham case from a few weeks ago. Why the silence?
Speaking as just one editor at the D company, I thought the DMN story was excellent, pointing out that the case is a lot more ambiguous than either side wants you to believe. At the same time, Perry’s right that much if not most of the pro-Willingham sentiment is driven by an anti-death penalty political agenda. (Then again, the guv didn’t look that great by nixing or postponing the probe. Ham-handedness on personnel/appointments seems to be a consistent problem with Perry.) As for the “big picture”: By casting doubt on the Willingham multiple-origins arson theory, aren’t the anti’s essentially saying that every criminal arson finding in history should be tossed out as invalid? I mean, a 1965 conviction obviously didn’t benefit from the “latest scientific standards” they’re so worried about. What about that can of worms?
glenn – That is not a can of worms, that is irrelevant to the Rick Perry lynch mob. Willingham’s ex wife Stacy’s statement that was printed in the Ft. Worth Star Telegram should be read in conjunction with the DMN story. Here is the link:
http://www.star-telegram.com/804/story/1709042.html