Last summer, the West Memphis Three were finally released from prison, on the condition that they not sue the state of Arkansas for 18 years of prison time, including 10 years in solitary confinement for Damien Echols, all served as innocent men. The entered a plea bargain with the state, called the Alford Plea, whereby they maintained their innocence of the murder of three 8-year-old boys in 1993, but agreed to plead “guilty” so that they could be released from jail. So goes the great justice system of America; the case was sewn up from the beginning, and the Alford plea – agreeing that “the prosecution could likely prove the charge” even though they did not commit the offense – allows Blind Justice to protect the corrupt system that put them in prison on bullshit charges. Damien Echols, Jason Baldwin and Jessie Misskelley were convicted of murder and accused of practicing Satanic rituals by a mindless public and the bible-thumping officials that represent them. Thanks to the work of countless people, the Three have been released, partly because of new evidence brought to light during the production of West of Memphis, an investigative documentary directed by Amy Berg and co-produced by LOTR’s Peter Jackson, Damien Echols and his wife Lorri Davis, which premiered Jan. 20th, 2012, at Sundance. They uncovered not only DNA evidence implicating one of the boys’ stepfathers, but also the massive faults in the initial investigation. In this Democracy Now interview with Echols, Davis and Berg, Echols talks about his time in prison, how he coped with a decade of solitary confinement and how he learned about true evil and corruption at the hands of the state. Echols wears tinted lenses because he almost lost his eyesight in the hole. He asserts that if he had chosen to sue the state of Arkansas, he wouldn’t have made it out of prison alive, because the State could easily pay someone inside to stab him to death. The prison system is the modern day equivalent to the institution of slavery, and all over the country, every day, young men are grist for its mill. The State is just as guilty as the billionaires who run the prisons, and Damien Echols is trying to blow their game wide open. After the jump, watch the interview and the trailer for West of Memphis…
Democracy Now interview with Damien Echols Part 1
Democracy Now interview with Damien Echols Part 2
West of Memphis Trailer
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