(Picture Courtesy of the L.A. Times)
“A 21-year-old Anaheim man has been arrested in connection with the killing of Arthur Carmona, a Santa Ana man who had made headlines when he was freed from prison after being wrongfully convicted. After months of investigation, Santa Ana homicide detectives arrested Felix Abreu, 21, Thursday on suspicion of gross vehicular manslaughter and hit-and-run driving, both felonies,” according to the L.A. Times.
To add insult to injury to the Carmona family, a Legislative bill that was named after him, AB 2937, also known as the Arthur Carmona Justice for the Wrongfully Convicted Act, was vetoed last month, again according to the L.A. Times. This bill would have provided up to $10,000 for a range of social services to help wrongfully convicted people reenter society.
Too many people end up in jail when they are in fact innocent. That is one of the reasons I oppose the death penalty. Don’t we at least owe these victims of injustice an apology and whatever help they need in order to get back to their lives? We already know that if you are rich you can evade justice (remember O.J. Simpson?). The system is unfair for the working poor – like Arthur Carmona.
May Carmona rest in peace and may his killer get the sentence he deserves. I hope our legislators will try to bring back AB 2937 next year. They could easily fund it by passing Prop. 5, which will “expand and increase funding and oversight for individualized treatment and rehabilitation programs for nonviolent drug offenders and parolees.” How much money are we wasting by imprisoning these peope?
The miscarriage of justice occurs because the head prosecutors are politicians. So they zealously “get tough” on certain kinds of individuals and all too often turn a blind eye to the wealthy, the connected, and their fellow electeds. Until this situation is fixed the problem will persist. Same situation with county sheriffs. The State Constitution needs to be changed so these people can be appointed on professional merit with as little politicking as possible.
Thats a great idea, lets get the politics out of judges too and instead have them all pass competency tests every year just like the kids do under NCLBA. Actually it might be good for our elected officials to have to pass tests of competency also. It might keep those charming but bankrupt individuals out of politics.