nonfiction Archives - Page 2 of 2

The “Other” West Memphis Three (part 1): Ain’t No Thing

Pam Hicks’ lawsuit is latest evidence of the patience of parents of West Memphis victims in the face of decades-old unsolved murders. The lawsuit does not concern itself with West Memphis and Arkansas authorities’ devastating mishandling of her son’s murder investigation. Pam (Hobbs) Hicks asks only to see her deceased son’s possessions, which were seized as evidence after his murder in 1993, and which remain locked away by West Memphis Police although the case is, according to the State, “closed.”

The “Other” West Memphis Three: Background: West Memphis Today

On August 19, 2011, following numerous appeals, documentaries, books, and a host of celebrity support, Damien, Jason, and Jesse were allowed to enter what is called an Alford Plea, by which the accused may assert their innocence while acknowledging that the State believes it has a case against them. Alford pleas are filed as guilty pleas, however, to satisfy the necessary paperwork for the State. As a result of this plea agreement, the three teenagers, who were now men in their mid- to late- thirties, were re-sentenced to "time served" (19 years, which Damien had spent on Death Row) and were released from prison with the remainder of their sentences suspended. For its part, the State of Arkansas retained the legal (if not moral) ability to point to these convictions and assert that the 1993 triple child-homicide remains a closed case. As a result, West Memphis and Arkansas authorities have, to date, done precisely nothing to find the actual killer(s) of Stevie Branch, Christopher Byers, and Michael Moore.

The Hope of a Generation: Freeing the West Memphis Three

All signs indicate that today, 19 August 2011, is a day more than eighteen years in the making. The so-called West Memphis Three -- Jason Baldwin, Damien Echols, and Jessie Misskelley -- will finally go home, after serving more than eighteen years in prison for crimes they did not commit.

“Believe the Children” *

In the 1980s, "Believe the Children" was a well-intentioned but misused slogan in the struggle to raise awareness of child sexual abuse. If there were any doubts, however, whether the prosecutors behind resultant witch hunts were concerned with the protection of children, rather than political posturing, the children themselves are helping to clarify the matter.

The Cost of False Cases of Child Sexual Abuse

In 2010, one of the few nationally publicized, child-sex abuse fiascoes of the new millennium, Georgia v. Tonya Craft resulted in an acquittal for a gradeschool teacher charged with more than twenty counts of child molestation, aggravated sexual battery, and aggravated child molestation. But the acquittal came only after Craft, family, friends, and supporters raised enough money for an adequate defense--in this case, $500,000, which included an inheritance, a refinanced home, and Craft's own wedding ring. Statistically rare enough to make it one for the record books, the Craft trial is also a rare bright spot in the murky case law surrounding trials of its type.