My name is Maria Isabel. I am an actor, Witch, Priestess, activist, godmother, sister, daughter, friend, bookworm, lover, and belly dancer. I am pro-gay rights, pro-women's rights, pro-religious freedom, pro-choice and against war. I don't say the pledge of alliegance, I don't stand for the national anthem, and if I feel like burning an American flag, I will do that. Now that you know where I stand politically, you can now choose to keep reading OR you can crawl back into your red-white-and-blue male Christian heterosexual WASP corner.
I've been told that I have a strong personality that intimidates more people than I want it to. I speak my mind, which bothers people sometimes, mostly men. I used to go to high school until they threw me out. Then I was in the Army until they threw me out. Then I was in a coven until they threw me out. Lots of people really don't like me, but lots of people are also idiots. I think I'm a cool chick, but I'll admit I'm very blunt at times. I'm not ashamed of any of the stuff I've done in my life. I'll admit almost anything.
I'm a devout supporter of the West Memphis Three. Don't know who the West Memphis Three are? Well I'll tell you.
Shortly after three eight-year-old boys were found mutilated and murdered in West Memphis, Arkansas, local newspapers stated the killers had been caught. The police assured the public that the three teenagers in custody were definitely responsible for these horrible crimes. Evidence?
The same police officers coerced an error-filled “confession†from Jessie Misskelley Jr., who is mentally handicapped. They subjected him to 12 hours of questioning without counsel or parental consent, audio-taping only two fragments totaling 46 minutes. Jessie recanted it that evening, but it was too late— Misskelley, Jason Baldwin and Damien Echols were all arrested on June 3, 1993, and convicted of murder in early 1994.
Although there was no physical evidence, murder weapon, motive, or connection to the victims, the prosecution pathetically resorted to presenting black hair and clothing, heavy metal t-shirts, and Stephen King novels as proof that the boys were sacrificed in a satanic cult ritual. Unfathomably, Echols was sentenced to death, Baldwin received life without parole, and Misskelley got life plus 40.
For over 13 years, The West Memphis Three have been imprisoned for crimes they didn’t commit. Echols waits in solitary confinement for the lethal injection our tax dollars will pay for. They were all condemned by their poverty, incompetent defense, satanic panic and a rush to judgment.
But there’s still hope for them, and you can help.
This entire case makes my balls hurt. It's the saddest thing I know of. When I tell people about the West Memphis Three, they always say, "How could that happen? They wouldn't be in prison if there was no proof." That's what most people believe because that's what they WANT to believe. But in reality, the judicial system is botched and corrupt.
The cornerstone of justice in the United States of America is that persons accused of crimes are presumed innocent until proven guilty. Children, supposedly, are presumed even more innocent. But here, all of that was swept aside. There were no special protections. There were no juvenile courts. There was not even a basic presumption of innocence. Damien, Jason, and Jessie were not proven guilty. They were presumed guilty. And that, as Jason noted, was "enough."
The entire thing is unjust not only to Damien, Jason and Jessie, but also to Chris, Stevie and Michael, who were the three boys that got murdered. The police have not found their real killers and they don't show interest in trying either.
I wear black, listen to Metallica, read horror novels and hell, I even practice Witchcraft. So when a triple child murder happens in my area, it's highly possible that I'll be put to death for it. It happened to the West Memphis Three, so it could happen to me. As Mara Leveritt put it, "It's another devil's knot. Add the strangling element of panic, and any of us could be snared."
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