Injustice is costly business
Published April 28, 2017
Editorial by Winston-Salem Journal, April 26, 2017.
North Carolina just got this lesson again: Injustice is costly in more than just human terms.
Two brothers wrongfully imprisoned for 30 years in the killing of an 11-year-old girl in Robeson County have reached a settlement with investigators who helped put them away, The Associated Press reported. “Henry McCollum and Leon Brown have sought an unspecified amount of money in damages from local and state law enforcement agents. Their motion seeks a judge’s approval for a settlement that would end their lawsuit, which accused the authorities of violating their civil rights,” the AP reported.
We don’t know what the settlement figure is. But it’s probably big. And, after then-Gov. Pat McCrory pardoned these men who were once on Death Row, they were awarded $750,000 each from the state through a process for wrongful convictions, the AP reported. That’s separate from the civil suit.
The AP reported: “McCollum, 53, and Brown, 49, were released from prison in 2014 after DNA evidence indicated that another man raped and killed the girl … A break in the case happened after the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Com-mission got involved several years ago and had new DNA analysis done on evidence from the crime scene.”
The man whose DNA was found on crime-scene evidence is in prison for another crime. The Robeson County DA hasn’t decided whether to charge him. He should.
He should do that for the half-brothers who have had a hard time adjusting to life outside prison. And the DA should charge the new suspect in the name of justice in general.
We can’t help but wonder how many more innocent people are behind bars in this state — and how many real felons roam free, endangering us all. This state remains in sore need of criminal-justice reform. Gov. Roy Cooper, who was the state attorney general before winning the state’s top job last year, should lead in that reform. That won’t be easy, because cases handled under him may come into question. But justice and public safety demand reform of costly injustice.
