NEW VOICES: Former FBI Chief Sessions Calls for Innocence Commission in Texas In a recent op-ed, William Sessions called on state leg­is­la­tors in Texas to pass a mea­sure to cre­ate an Innocence Commission. The Commission would exam­ine the Texas crim­i­nal jus­tice sys­tem in an effort to pro­tect against wrong­ful con­vic­tions. Sessions, a for­mer direc­tor of the FBI and fed­er­al judge, not­ed that numer­ous exon­er­a­tions , recent crime lab scan­dals (see below) in the state, and oth­er trou­bling events should prompt state lead­ers to take immediate action:

When we study our crim­i­nal jus­tice sys­tem in Texas and make it bet­ter, we not only reduce the chances of con­vict­ing the inno­cent, we increase the chances of con­vict­ing the guilty. We also show that our sys­tem is strong enough to rec­og­nize and repair its own mistakes.

A bill to cre­ate such a com­mis­sion was intro­duce by Senator Rodney Ellis of Houston. (Houston Chronicle, May 13, 2003) See Innocence and New Voices.

Tags
Citation Guide