My first thought after reading “Neighborhood Watched” [March 3, City Weekly] was why is this prosecutor (persecutor) Lindsay Jarvis allowed to walk among the free? Accusations of conspiracy to commit murder via hired killer(s) are very serious charges. That Jarvis knows she can levy such serious and entirely baseless charges against anyone and face no repercussions says all one needs to know about American justice. A more perfect candidate for the highest thrones of power in this land cannot be found.

“Neighborhood Watched” brings light to a subject only recently getting some (not enough) public exposure, mostly through the work of The Innocence Project’s success in winning releases of those imprisoned under false accusations. In every case, it was shown that investigations were focused on proving guilt rather than discovery of truth, with prosecutors controlling access to exonerating evidence and testimony, often with approval of judges. The unwarranted imprisonment and harassment of Richard Ricci, falsely accused of kidnapping Elizabeth Smart, and Tim DeChristopher’s recent sham trial are perfect examples of both. And still, few—if any—states have laws on the books to rein in and punish malicious prosecutors or compensate those whose lives they destroy. When high conviction rates and fear of admitting mistakes become the engine of a legal system, everyone loses and everyone is a potential victim of that system.

And this mindset prevails from top to bottom. Whether it be Utah’s Saratoga Springs, Congress, the White House or the American gulag, the belief prevails that false and unfounded assumptions and accusations are reason enough for incarceration and execution.

It seems that now more than ever, if you want justice, don’t look to the courts; open any English dictionary and look between “joke” and “sick.”

Clee Paul Ames
Eureka