Exoneration Quotes
He was referring to exonerations for capital crimes like murder. He had written a book about a case where a man who was later proved innocent was reprieved only 5 days before his execution.
The admiral, who was the intellectual leader of the junta during the “Dirty War,” confessed to the facts but claimed that the drastic steps were appropriate and necessary. Further, that there was no “guilt” involved in an act of executive necessity. The court did not agree and he was convicted, but was later pardoned along with the other war criminals by President Carlos Menem.
The Senator was referring to the large number of people who had been exonerated by DNA evidence while on Death Row.
Texas executes more people than the rest of the United States does. However, just before the debate an investigation disclosed 56 recent cases in Texas where the “criminals” were completely exonerated based on the work of some volunteer attorneys and law students. They were all released from jail where many had served decades for crimes they did not commit. 5 were released from Death Row—awaiting to be executed. See {635339}.
Trotsky was castigated in Russia and found “guilty” of a host of crimes for his dissident communist views. The American communists generally fell into line, but a number of the leading intellectuals established their own Commission—headed by John Dewey to investigate Trotsky. Their finding created the first major split in American communist circles and started a process of intellectual alienation from the Communist party. Trotsky was in exile in Mexico where Stalin’s agents tracked him down and assassinated him further alienating many American intellectuals.
