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Comment by brazzy | Hacker News Reader

I bet there were people who campaigned for the innocent man to be executed based on exactly this state of mind.

I don't see the equivalency. The prosecutor abused his official position and the legal system to personally advance his career. If anything, we should hold our officials and authorities to even harsher standards to ensure equitable treatment under the law.

If anything, we should fix the systems that allow miscarriages of justice like this to happen.

Yet revenge seems to be the first motivation of most people. Making things worse instead of making things better.

We should, but part of fixing the system that allows these things to happen is penalizing "bad actors." The prosecutor hid evidence from the judge, not just the defense. In addition, a brutal murderer is still free among the populace. What if they've killed again in the interim?

In this case the prosecutor's witheld evidence did result in another murder by the real perpetraitor 2 years later so your point is especially valid.

The prosecutor should have that on his shoulders as well.

A brutal murderer is in jail. He did kill in the interim, and was caught for that... pretty sad, to be honest :(

"What if they've killed again in the interim?"

That happened. The actual murderer killed another woman before he was caught. The cost to society is not just 25 years of this dudes life but add one dead woman to the list.

Of course you can't prove that merely exonerating one dude would somehow have automagically resulted in the cops catching the actual killer.

It's not about revenge.

Our motivation to not do things is driven by consequences.

When the balance of power exists so that those who determine consequences for people can do so out of self-interest, they need to be held up to the same standards and face equal consequences themselves.

The prosecutor should have a sentence passed against him to ensure others do not follow suit with "$500 and 500 hours community service, oh and I can still be a legal consultant for a corporation - I can accept that risk for some gain"...

People are really good at ignoring consequences and believing that they won't get caught, or are justified to break the rules.

I'd say it's much better to change the system so that it's not in a prosecutor's self interest to convict as many people as possible.

My point as the GP entirely.

You can only hold a prosecutor to a "perfect standard" if they have the power to ruin a person's life through self-interest. That perfect standard should only be enforced the other way as well in the circumstance that they do something wrong on this scale.

These positions attract people who wish to be wealthy or powerful. This might not be the case if they have to live up to their own standards.

Examples should be made of both sides.

You are certain, after reading some newspaper articles, that Ken Anderson abused his position for personal gain, and the most important thing to you is that he be punished more severely. Your slogan: "an eye for an eye".

Other people were certain, after reading some newspaper articles, that Michael Morton murdered his wife because she would not submit to him sexually, and the most important thing to them was that he be punished more severely. Their slogan: "an eye for an eye".

See the similarity now?

No, they have evidence here. Quite a lot of it, in fact. Enough to get Mr Morton off his huge sentence. And enough for the Judge to step down, and plead guilty. Not equivalent, in my opinion.

The police probably beat that confession out of Anderson. /s

I am certain and I do not see the equivalency. This news story is local to me and is one of many examples of innocent individuals in Texas that have been railroaded by the "authorities" here.

In prison, Morton had to put up with forced manual labor, filthy and inhumane conditions, fight off a rapist, and lose 25 years of his life.

Anderson had to do 5 days in jail and pay a $500 fine. He should be drug behind a vehicle for several miles or until the tow rope falls off. I understand that sounds extreme, but those most powerful among us with the power to destroy whole lives on a whim should face the full brutality of society.

YOU should be drug behind a vehicle until you see the equivalency. All you're doing is reiterating that YOU consider this crime so heinous that the rule of law shouldn't apply - which just happens to be close to what this guy did.

In Texas, there is always some idiot[1] campaigning to have some poor bastard executed.

[1] usually a prosecutor.

Your footnote is a tautology. ;)

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