Comments on movie Fruitvale (2013)

We just saw Fruitvale, which we ordered from DVD.  This is a movie based on a real killing of a 22 year old male by a BART police officer at the Fruitvale stop off the Bart on New Years, 2009.  Details can be found here....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fruitvale_(BART_station)
This is an important movie to see for two reasons.


1. It involves real people, no stars, living a real life.  The victim is not a good person.  Nor is he a bad person.  He is a real person, as are his family and friends in the movie.


2. It is yet another example of the truth that people with guns are dangerous, whether they have a badge or not, and should be avoided if at all possible.  There may be good police officers, but as a group they should not be idolized or put on any pedestal.

Comments on The Orion Protocol, Gary Tigerman (2003)

Another thrift store book, this one read 10 years after publication.  Astronauts reveal shadow government secrets related to aliens and defense programs.  I like the studly astronaut partners, one from Colorado and the other from perhaps Tennessee, but there wasn't much to the story. 


James, don't waste your time with this one.

Comments on The Innocent Man: Murder and Injustice in a Small Town by John Grisham (2006)

This is another thrift store purchase and the first non-fiction I've read from "the Grish."  He usually writes legal thrillers.


This is about two wrongful convictions in the small town of Ada, Oklahoma in the 1980's which resulted in one death sentence and one life sentence.  Both men spent 11 years in prison until both were exonerated with DNA evidence.


Kudos to "the Grish" for tackling a very serious problem in our society.  Many people convicted of serious crimes have been exonerated with DNA evidence.  These are unpopular people, for various reasons, not represented by good lawyers, and railroaded by unscrupulous and ambitious prosecutors.  Neither judge nor jury critically examine evidence, which is often flimsy, essentially deferring to prosecutors. 


The job I'm perhaps proudest of was a clerkship during law school for a unit within the federal public defender in LA representing death row inmates in their habeas corpus claims.  These were true believer type attorneys who everyone hated, including their own clients, but were the only ones involved in the case doing the right thing.  No one should kill these inmates, whether they did the deed or not.  Perhaps one day I will resume meaningful work such as this.  We'll see.


Supporting culture of life, as they say, doesn't stop when someone's born, and it isn't just for pleasant people.  It goes from natural birth to death and is for everyone without distinction.