A Republican State A.G. Fights to Keep Exonerated Prisoners Behind Bars - eviltoast
In Missouri, Attorney General Andrew Bailey is in a tough primary fight against a Trump lawyer who says Bailey is soft on crime.

Once a court decides that you’re not guilty, the answer should be “you’re free to go” and for those who have been incarcerated for a significant amount of time, “here’s how we’re going to support your re-entry into society.” Keeping the imprisoned is completely antithetical to any reasonable sense of justice.

  • worldwidewave@lemmy.world
    26·
    3 months ago

    It was not the first time that Mr. Bailey had sought to upend an exoneration, and his intervention in the Dunn case came at a critical point in his tenure, with the Missouri primary election scheduled for Tuesday. Mr. Bailey, who took office 17 months ago to fill out his predecessor’s term, is trying to fend off a formidable challenger as he seeks a full four-year term as the state’s top law enforcement officer.

    Weeks before trying to block Mr. Dunn’s release, Mr. Bailey moved to keep Sandra Hemme locked up after a judge ruled that she was innocent. Ms. Hemme, who had been in prison for 43 years, spent another month behind bars before the state’s highest court stepped in and ordered her release.

    And in June, Mr. Bailey tried unsuccessfully to quash a motion by the St. Louis County prosecutor to exonerate Marcellus Williams, who was convicted of the 1998 murder of a local journalist and faces execution in September.

    It’s political imprisonment, and it’s fucking disgusting.