Announcement: Melissa Lucio
Scheduled to be legally murdered next month
On April 27th of this year, the state of Texas is scheduled to execute Melissa Lucio for a crime that not even the prosecutor who secured her conviction really believes it is proven she committed (not that he cares). Ours is a brutal justice system in general, but that of Texas is particularly callous and cruel even by our standards. At present, this woman is awaiting execution not because she has been proved guilty of the crime, but because she was convicted by a jury that had been intentionally misled to believe she had made a confession that she had not; and, once a conviction has been handed down, it is apparently simply too much of an administrative and bureaucratic hassle to reverse the injustice, merely to save a life of no great social consequence (her status as a poor latina, that is to say, did not stand her in good stead before the Texas bar of justice).
Please share the story aggressively, and agitate in any way you know how for the execution to be stopped, and for a thorough and honest review of her case to be undertaken by the State of Texas, and perhaps by the federal DOJ if this should qualify (as it should) as a civil rights matter.
An example for any reader happening by who may be inclined to think that DBH is exaggerating about the carelessness of Texas justice: https://www.texasmonthly.com/news-politics/truth-justice-podcast-army-free-ed-ates/
It also wouldn't be a bad idea to read up on Todd Willingham.
Or consider that Louis Gohmert, who regularly distinguishes himself as possibly the stupidest man in our very stupid government, was a Texas judge for years before his political career.
My family has had some experience with some of the Texas DOC's Prominent Men. They are among the most intellectually and morally slovenly people in the world. I've met drug dealers with way more integrity and (God knows) more intelligence.
May Melissa Lucio, and a whole lot of other people, find freedom.
Dear David, Thank you so much for bringing this issue into your often abstract and academic forum. I have been working on making this issue public for some time (have you seen the documentary?) and it's incredibly heartening to know you care about Melissa. I did not think I could love you any more than I do, but the way you just used your voice on behalf of the voiceless and marginalized has made my heart swell. Blessings to you.
https://freemelissalucio.org/ has a list of very easy actions readers can take (from the comfort of the chairs they are sitting in right now!)