The West Memphis Three are Free: An Amazing Day Laced in Absolute Tragedy
I have not blogged here in over three months, but I cannot think of a better day to start again than today.
Today is an amazing day. The West Memphis Three were released from prison. This is both extraordinary and incredibly tragic, as they have served 18 years–half of their lives–behind bars for a crime that they did not commit.
I slept in today. When I woke up, I took it easy, made coffee and took my time getting to my computer and settling in for the rest of the day to work–something I have not allowed myself to do in months. When I checked in on Facebook, I saw one single story pop up declaring that Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, Jr. were finally given the freedom that they have always been deserving of. I didn’t believe it. By the time I made it half-way through the first article, several others had been posted, assuring me that it really happened. I immediately started crying.
I have been following the story of the West Memphis Three for the past ten years. When I first heard about their case and watched the documentary Paradise Lost: The Child Murders at Robin Hood Hills, I was 14 years old. Like countless other people who have heard about the West Memphis Three, have seen the facts of their case and have long witnessed the corruption at work within an already incompetent justice system, as perpetrated by everyone who sought to convict them, I have developed a strong emotional connection to this case and to the three teenagers–now men–who had half of their lives literally stolen from them.
After they were tried and found guilty for the murder of three young, 8-year-old boys in West Memphis, Arkansas, Damien Echols, who was 18 years old at the time, was sentenced to death and spent the past 18 years on death row; Jessie Misskelley, Jr., who was 17 years old, was sentenced to life imprisonment plus an additional forty years and Jason Baldwin, just 16 years old at the time, was sentenced to life imprisonment.
One of the factors that made me so emotional from the very first time I ever heard of the West Memphis Three is that I saw so much of my teenage-self in them; a feeling that a great deal of other supporters have acknowledged as well. When I was 13 and 14 years old, I was beyond fascinated by the Salem Witch Trials (still am), and I had begun learning about as many different religious beliefs as I possibly could, including Wicca. The practice of becoming educated on the many different religious affiliations and beliefs that are out there in the world is what predominantly led to my now strongly-held staunch atheist beliefs. But at the time, up until I was 17 years old, I was a black clothes and fishnets-wearing teenage girl with knee-length, ass-kicking black boots, arms that were filled with black jelly bracelets up to my elbows and more black eyeliner on my face than what many probably have in their makeup collections. If these three teenagers could face murder charges and be convicted based mostly on the fact that the system had labeled them as the “town freaks”, surely I could have gone through the same ordeal; as could anyone who illustrated the same qualities in their teenage years.
That these men are finally able to go home after 18 years is amazing, but how they were made able to walk out of those prison doors is disgraceful both to the state of Arkansas, as well as to the entire justice system.
In order for the West Memphis Three to be released today, they were practically forced into accepting an Alford plea deal, in which they all pled guilty while being able to continue to claim their innocence. For their guilty plea, they were sentenced to 18 years with credit for time served, as well as a Suspended Imposition of Sentence for 10 years. It is also stipulated that if they “re-offend”, they can be sent back to prison for 21 years.
I say that they were practically forced to take the Alford plea deal because firstly, DNA evidence that was finally tested in July 2011 concluded that the West Memphis Three are not guilty of the crime in which they have been serving time for. After serving 18 years in prison for a crime that they now have proof that they did not commit, the state of Arkansas would only give them the freedom that they are entitled to as long as the state could protect itself from one of the most corrupt acts that they are totally and completely guilty of. That is outrageously disgusting and an obscene abuse of power.
In response to the plea deal that was accepted, a press conference was conducted with the West Memphis Three (video below); here is what Jason Baldwin had to say about taking the plea deal:
“This was not justice. In the beginning we told nothing but the truth–that we were innocent and they sent us to prison for the rest of our lives for it. We had to come here and the only thing the state would do for us is say, ‘Hey we will let you go only if you admit guilt,’ and that is not justice any way you look at it. They’re not out there trying to find who really murdered those boys, and I did not want to take the deal from the get-go. However, they are trying to kill Damien, and sometimes you just got to bite the gun to save somebody.”
A portion of Damien Echols’ statement is below, you can read it in its entirety here.
I have now spent half my life on death row. It is a torturous environment that no human being should have to endure, and it needed to end. I am innocent, as are Jason and Jessie, but I made this decision because I did not want to spend another day of my life behind those bars. I want to live and to continue to fight for our innocence. Sometimes justice is neither pretty nor is it perfect, but it was important to take this opportunity to be free.
I am not alone as there are tens of thousand of men and women in this country who have been wrongfully convicted, forced into a false confession, sentenced to death or a lifetime in prison. I am hopeful that one day they too will be able stand with their friends and family to declare their innocence.
That last part is incredibly important. The West Memphis Three were lucky. They have an incredible amount of supporters and people who have dedicated so much of themselves to doing everything in their power to ensure that these three men would see the freedom that they deserved; including an entire film crew who have worked through the years to put out two documentaries on their case. These documentaries have reached an astounding number of people, making this case known around the world. Without the notoriety that these men received at the hands of their many high profile supporters, they would still be in prison and Damien Echols would have likely been executed years ago.
They were lucky, and yet there are so many people living right now behind bars who had never committed the crimes that they were found guilty of. So, with that in mind, check out The Innocence Project, a national litigation and public policy organization dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted people through DNA testing and who strive to reform the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice.
Here is a press conference conducted with Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley, Jr.:
International Day of Compassion and Finding My Passion Again
Yesterday was International Day of Compassion, created as a blogging event by BlogCatalog and organized by its blogging activism website, Bloggers Unite. The day was created in honor of Dr. Patch Adams, a man who through great struggle in his life and after three hospitalizations in one year due to how suicidal he was after being relentlessly bullied in school, declared to himself that “you don’t kill yourself; you make revolution.” That is exactly what he has done throughout his life.
In 1971, Dr. Patch Adams founded the Gesundheit! Institute where each year, he organizes a group of volunteers from around the world to travel to various countries dressed as clowns in order to bring humor to people, patients and orphans of those countries. Everything Dr. Patch Adams does in his life is because of the compassion he has in his heart. I never saw the movie “Patch Adams” starring Robin Williams. Everything I know about Dr. Patch Adams is because International Day of Compassion was created in his honor and naturally, I did a bit of research on him. I can now say that I am truly and completely blown away by this man, especially, I must admit, because he is completely against insurance policies being used to dictate who is worthy of receiving the highest quality of medical care and in essence, who is worthy of living a happy, healthy life and who must suffer because of their lack of finances.
I took part in International Day of Compassion and wrote a post for my other blog, Woman Tribune, also known as my day job. While writing this post, I noticed that I was writing from a place I haven’t really touched on in months–the place within myself that oozes passion and heart and everything that has always bubbled within me and kept me blogging here on Menstrual Poetry for years.
Woman Tribune is my livelihood; it is the reason why I have a roof over my head and food in my refrigerator, but the reason why it pays is because it is all facts, fun and frivolous. It has a completely different tone than anything I have ever written here. At times, well, most of the time really, it lacks heart. When Woman Tribune took off and started receiving more attention and thus my bank account started seeing more action, Menstrual Poetry took the backseat in my daily life in a pretty extreme way. As a result of that, it has been over a year since I have blogged here more than two or three times a month.
It has been so long since I have written with the amount of heart that I wrote with last night and once I felt that vulnerable, excited and sort of anxious feeling in my gut–the same feeling I have had while writing every post on this blog–I knew that my passion had finally returned. And it is amazing.
And as for that post for International Day of Compassion…
There is so much in our world that needs to changed. It is possible and do not ever, not for a second, let anyone tell you that the world you envision living in isn’t possible or that you don’t have the power within yourself to initiate or contribute to lasting change in the world. Take the lead of Dr. Patch Adams and other revolutionaries throughout our history and every time you get knocked down, stand up again and declare your truth louder each time.
Compassion is what contributes to the greatness of humanity; if more people were to look inside themselves and exhibit compassion in everything they do, we would see so much less suffering in the world. We would see the world in the way we have always envisioned it to be–with less struggling, less hunger, less homelessness, less ignorance, less sickness, less silencing, and with more love, more understanding and more peace.
Blog for International Women’s Day 2011
International Women’s Day is exactly one week from today–Tuesday, March 8th. This is a day that first began in 1975 during International Women’s Year and was announced by the United Nations as a day to celebrate achievements and struggles of women all around the world.
Women have accomplished absolutely amazing things throughout history and we continue to do the same today. Without the diligent, shameless, kick ass and inspiring activism of women, we as a collective people would not be who we are today and our worlds, no matter how seemingly different in culture from one location to the next, would not be what it is today. And there is so much more to do.
There are countless women’s rights activists, feminists, womanists, humanists and socially-conscious people who participate in celebrating International Women’s Day every year. There are currently upwards of 1500 events taking place all over the world this year alone posted on the official International Women’s Day website. Bloggers have also come to celebrate this day through their blogs, such as the series of interviews the super amazing and fantastic Renee Martin of Womanist Musings conducted with bloggers who make up a good portion of the society and culture blogosphere in 2009. Then again, I could be biased since I was one of the women she interviewed, which you can still read here.
Gender Across Borders is urging more bloggers to step up and recognize and celebrate International Women’s Day with their second annual Blog for International Women’s Day (Blog for IWD for short). Each year, there is a running theme associated with International Women’s Day; this year’s theme is “Equal access to education, training and science and technology: Pathway to decent work for women.” Going along the vein of this theme, Gender Across Borders is asking bloggers to think about any of the following questions in regards to the U.N.’s theme for International Women’s Day:
- What does it mean to have equal access to education, training and science and technology for women, and how do we get there?
- Describe a particular organization or moment in history that helped to mobilize a meaningful change in equal access to education, training and science and technology for women.
If you plan to participate in Blog for International Women’s Day, add your blog to Gender Across Border’s link roundup of participating blogs and spread the word on Twitter using hashtag #BlogforIWD.
It is Unacceptable to Allow Government to Play Politics with the Lives of Women
I have been trying to write this post all weekend, although it seems so much longer than that. It feels as if I have been sitting here in front of this computer, fingers poised over the keyboard, ready to unleash my disgust and sadness over the House passing the Pence Amendment for no less than a week. Perhaps because it’s all I can really think about and because regardless of the amount of time I let my thoughts simmer and tell myself that if I get a good night’s rest I’ll be able to come back to this computer and suddenly all of my thoughts will make sense and come out in perfectly eloquent paragraphs that I was unable to string together the night before or the night before, I’m still just as scatterbrained, still just as upset and still just as enraged as I was on Friday afternoon when news of the amendment passing in the House flooded Twitter and the blogosphere.
I have been known to get disheartened and downright angry over a number of political moves that have been made in the name of the American people. I have been told for far too long that I take politics too seriously and that I feel too much. I have never been able to understand that line of thinking. How is it possible for someone to take the state of their country and the rights being given and taken away from the people of that country too seriously? Apathy for politics, for the rights of the people and for what state representatives are saying in Washington in the names of their constituents scares me. Frankly, apathy is what makes representatives who author, sponsor, cosponsor and vote “yes” on highly offensive, discriminatory and dehumanizing bills announce that they are truly representing the people whom they have been elected to work for. If your representatives do not hear your objecting voice, they believe they have free reign to trample all over your rights. That is exactly what the majority of the new, Republican-led Congress is doing with the introductions of H.R. 3, the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act”, H.R. 358, the “Protect Life Act”, and the House passing of the Pence Amendment.
The Pence Amendment is a direct attack on Planned Parenthood and subsequently, on the health and lives of American women, the vast majority of them low-income. Passing in the House with a vote of 240 to 185, this amendment not only aims to completely defund Planned Parenthood, but would also eliminate the entire Title X program; the only federal grant program dedicated solely to providing comprehensive family planning and preventative health services.
This is not about abortion, regardless of how much the majority of the House would like you to believe it is. No funds from Title X are ever used for abortion services; none. So why the elaborate stories of the sanctity of human life from the supposed “pro-life” politicians of the house? Deception, clear and simple. Hiding amendments under “hot button issues” such as abortion is sadly, politics as usual. The Pence Amendment is not about defunding abortion and it is by no means a victory for the “sanctity of human life”; it is quite literally just the opposite. Title X funds are used for cancer screenings, STI tests, mammograms, HIV testing and diagnosis, sex education, contraception, and pregnancy screening and counseling. Last year, approximately 5 million people benefited from the services funded by Title X. Without Title X, millions of American people would lose affordable access to these health care services.
I have read a lot of blogs, websites and comments about the passing of the Pence Amendment and a lot of people’s thoughts resonated with me. One comment on Feministe’s post, in particular, really stood out to me: “240 people — 240 national elected officials — have just demonstrated that they hate me (and others who’ve depended on PP) and don’t think we’re deserving of sexual and reproductive health care.” That is essentially what the passing of this bill and the future votes on other discriminatory, anti-womens-lives bills that will continue to be put to a public vote boils down to. The majority of the House has spoken loudly and clearly that they hate those 5 million people who have depended on the care and services that they received at Planned Parenthood. Myself included.
I first walked into my local Planned Parenthood seeking reproductive health care services when I was 15. Unlike many teens in the same position I was in at the time, I was not alone. I had a great pillar of support in my decision to take control over my sexual health; my aunt. Beginning in my adolescence, I was raised by a single father with the help and unwavering support of my grandmother and aunt. I knew I had three people in my life who loved me unconditionally, but when it came to the topic of sex, which I was consensually having, and my interest in obtaining additional information and tools to protect my health, I knew that my aunt was the person in my family who I could go to with this request without feeling as if she was going to reprimand me. I wasn’t interested in the “you shouldn’t be having sex” talk; that talk hardly ever works with teens and it wouldn’t have worked with me, either. Instead, my aunt could relate to me on this level and helped me make the responsible decision to take control over my sexual health and presented me with the steps in order to put that decision into action. For that reason, and so many others, I will always be thankful to my aunt for her willingness to see me as a responsible teenager who was in need of her guidance as I took this monumental step in treating my sexual health with respect. More teens in exactly that same position should be so lucky.
The fact of the matter, however, is that a lot of teens do not have that adult in their lives who are capable of putting aside any judgment, ideology, or reprimanding tone of voice and just be there for the teens in their lives who need them. It is judgment and ideology that teens see throughout their upbringing that leads them to not reach out to those adults in their lives when they need guidance, support and tools, especially when it comes to their sex lives.
Thankfully, Planned Parenthood is there for those teens and for the women and men who also walk into their health care clinics every day looking for knowledge, support, tools and guidance. If the Pence Amendment were to pass, Planned Parenthood would be unable to help most of those same people who walk into their clinics and that is completely and utterly devastating.
I have always gone to Planned Parenthood for all of my reproductive health care needs. There are several different reasons for this, but the most prominent of the reasons is that I have never been able to afford to go anywhere else. That doesn’t mean that if I were able to afford to go somewhere else that I would stop going to Planned Parenthood. I wouldn’t. I would instead feel fantastic about being able to fully pay for the services that I have received, but even though I cannot, I have not once ever been judged or turned away by Planned Parenthood because of my inability to fully pay for the services that I have needed.
It is easy for people who have never needed Planned Parenthood to not only oppose them, but hate them. The people who voted “yes” on the Pence Amendment and those who support the passing of this amendment, do not just hate Planned Parenthood; they are telling every single person who has ever needed health care services that they couldn’t afford that they don’t deserve to be healthy because they are poor. They are telling these people–they are telling me–that I do not matter and that they want me dead. That is not “pro-life” by any stretch of the imagination.
That is what really must be understood about this entire amendment and its passing. The passing of the Pence Amendment is the people in government–people who were elected to represent their constituents–using life-saving health care services as talking points and playing politics with real human lives. Lives that matter. Lives that mean something. Lives that deserve to be lived.
Speak out about this amendment. Just because it passed in the House does not mean it is destined to pass in the Senate. Call and write your Representatives and urge them to reconsider their stance on the Pence Amendment if they support it or thank them for standing up for the reproductive health and rights of women if they voted “no”. If you’re on Twitter, tweet with the hashtag #SaveTitleX and stand with Planned Parenthood.
New Congress: From Redefining Rape to a Lethal Conscience Clause
House Republicans (and some Democrats) have initiated an all-out war on women since taking office. People who ran for this office on the platform that they were fed up with the downward spiral of the economy and who sold false stories of compassion for the jobless to the American people used these issues as a ploy to gain access into the House. From where I’m standing, these politicians do not care about the economy or the lack of jobs in this country; instead, their “top priority” has been to police the bodies of women.
Earlier this month, news spread and subsequent outrage arose from the introduction of H.R. 3, deceivingly-titled the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act”, sponsored by Chris Smith, the vehemently anti-choice Representative of New Jersey and co-sponsored by 68.5% of the new Congress. The hottest topic of debate concerning this bill was how it proposed to redefine rape, claiming that the only rape victims who would be given federal funding for abortion would be victims who could prove their rape was “forcible.” Days later, the “forcible rape” amendment was taken out of H.R. 3 and with that decision, many thought we had something to celebrate; that the voices of those who had dedicated their time and efforts to raise awareness of this bill by blogging, tweeting as part of the #DearJohn Twitter protest, writing letters and calling their Representatives had made a significant difference. Maybe they had. Maybe we had. Then again, maybe removing the most radical language from this bill, which just so happened to be one of the only parts of this bill that people had been paying attention to, was just politics as usual.
Without the forcible rape amendment, this legislation is still just as devastating and misogynist. If passed, it could restrict incest victims over the age of 18 from receiving federal funds when in need of an abortion and remove the exception for women’s health, allowing federal funds to cover the costs of an abortion if, and only if, a physician certifies that continuing that pregnancy would kill that woman. If a pregnant woman would become terribly ill if she were to continue that pregnancy, well, that doesn’t mean she would die and therefore an abortion would not be covered. This legislation would also require that the government continue funding agencies and programs that, in addition to not performing abortions, do not refer women to other health care facilities, agencies and programs that do; because of the GOP’s constant attack on all of women’s reproductive health choices, this bill could very likely also affect access and funding for emergency contraception and birth control. This bill would also cut tax benefits to organizations and individuals who select an insurance policy that covers abortion.
Transcript for this video is after the jump.
As of February 8th, committee hearings have been held in regards to H.R. 3 in the House Judiciary. It will surely move through the house and come up for vote in the House and Senate.
But GOP leaders are not stopping with H.R. 3; the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act does not shamelessly and deliberately trample on the basic, fundamental rights of women enough.
Enter H.R. 358, another ill-titled bill that deserves a freakin’ award when it comes to deceptive, anti-choice politics; and I’m just talking about the title of this bill. H.R. 358 is entitled the “Protect Life Act” and is sponsored by Rep. Joseph Pitts (R-PA) and is co-sponsored by 121 other members of the House, including a few Democrats. Wait for the facepalm-inducing action.
The Protect Life Act aims to encourage and allow physicians and entire hospitals to refuse to perform an abortion even if a woman would die without one. If a woman is having a risky pregnancy and is in imminent danger of losing her life, her doctor or the hospital in which she seeks immediate emergency care from could lawfully put the future-life of her fetus above her own life.
This is not just a war on women’s rights. This is a war on women’s lives. And Joseph Pitts had the audacity to title this lawful killing of women bill the Protect Life Act. It is very clear that the lives of women are not the lives in which the new Congress aims to protect. To them, the lives of women are disposable and the future-lives of the fetuses in which these politicians, physicians and anti-choice populace who are in agreement with these misogynist bills will become disposable once they are born; especially if they are born female.
I have always had a problem with conscience clauses, which is essentially what this legislation is. Conscience clauses give employees the freedom to not fulfill the duties that are required of them, that they were hired to do, and hide it under morality. If a person has a moral objection to a particular job, then why would that person study, train and become employed in that field? It is really a common sense approach I have here: If you cannot do your job, you should not be allowed to continue working in that field. For instance, if you are a pharmacist and you refuse to sell emergency contraception to a person who needs that medication, then you should be fired. There should not be more to it than that.
This bill is very literally giving elected officials free reign to allow physicians to kill people. So, what do we say to these elected officials? To quote Sady Doyle, “We should tell Congress that we hear they are planning to kill us, and are pretty upset about it, because we want to live.”
For a transcript of the video above, Read more
Sex-Positivity
I'm passionate about sex-positivity and believe every sexual being should have the freedom to explore their sexuality safely and without condemnation. I even lost my ad network after my refusal to censor myself after reviewing feminist porn.So if you're in the market for sex toys, porn, books, etc. take a look at the retailers below, all of which are feminist-friendly.
Out Campaign
The OUT Campaign allows individuals to let others know they are not alone. It can also be a nice way of opening a conversation and help to demolish the negative stereotypes of atheists. Let the world know that we are not about to go away and that we are not going to allow those that would condemn us to push us into the shadows.
