This blog post was about a former prisoner named John Thompson. Thompson was in prison for four years then death row for fourteen years and was released in 2003. He was arrested for shooting a hotel executive. He was released because he was proven innocent, due to blood tests that were held back in his previous trial back in 1984. After Thompson’s release he decided to sue Orleans Parish District Attorney's Office for violating federal civil rights by holding back evidence. After winning the case Thompson’s hopes were let down when the office took the case to the supreme court who overturned the judgement. Although Thompson lost the case he was able to own a shop with his wife and make a reasonable amount of money. After Katrina hit Thompson lost the shop causing him to be forced to fill out applications. He found it quite difficult because he had no idea how to operate a phone or a computer, due to spending nearly a decade behind bars. “We think states and cities should provide housing and job training”, is what Thompson said after struggling to find work. He then started a program for exonerated ex-prisoners that would teach them how to adjust to society after prison.
This article relates to a book I read in English class called To Kill A Mockingbird. There was a man named Tom Robinson who was accused of raping a woman. He went to court and was proven guilty, when he did nothing at all. He was sentenced the death penalty and wasn’t given a chance to prove himself innocent. This is similar to what happened with John Thompson, he was proven guilty even though he was innocent. The only difference is that Thompson was saved while Robinson wasn’t so lucky.
I believe that although the attorney office did hold back evidence that fourteen million was a little much to ask for. I also think that the supreme court shouldn’t have overturned the judgement. The office should’ve gave Thompson some money. What they did was a horrible thing and Thompson could have been doing something great with his life instead of being in death row all that time. I also believe that it is a good idea to have a program for exonerated ex-prisoners to help them get back on their feet. I just believe that they should only accept people proven innocent. People that have been in prison for a reason and proven guilty should not be allowed in prison because they got what they deserved by being in prison so long.
- What is the central idea of the passage and how is it developed and refined throughout the selection? Use evidence from the selection to support your answer.
- The central idea of this passage is to give the reader information on the program that is now available to ex-prisoners proven innocent. The information in refined throughout the passage by giving background information on Thompson and giving the reasons why he started the program. In paragraph seventeen the author puts a quote in by Thompson, "There's not a lot of vocational training on death row; the only thing you're trained for is to learn to die." This quote shows one of the reasons why Thompson decided to start the program to help innocent ex-prisoners. In paragraph twenty the author says,”Thompson's lawyers tried to convince him to go to a residential counseling program in California” this quote shows another reason to why the program began. The quote gives you information on how difficult it was for Thompson to see guidance on how to adjust to the world after prison.
Hawk, Thomas. “Process.” Photograph. Flickr. Yahoo, 7 Jan 2007. Web. 6 Apr 2014, <https://www.flickr.com/photos/51035555243@N01/465697821>
Grinberg, Emanuella. “Life after death row: Helping break the 'jailhouse mentality.” CNN. N.p., 5 Apr 2014. Web. 6 Apr 2014, <http://www.cnn.com/2014/04/04/us/death-row-stories-thompson/index.html?hpt=hp_c2>
