Darrell Cannon discussion

The discussion that the class had with Darrell Cannon last week was amazing.  Darrell was able to tell us so much information that we would not be able to get anywhere else.  I’m sure bits and pieces of his story are around, but the best information always comes from the main source.  The thing that [...]

Response to Darrell Cannon’s Speech

Darrell was one of the best public speakers I have ever heard in my life.  Almost every part of his story was so extremely interesting from how he got to prison in the first place, to his life at Tamms, to his life now.  The one thing that really struck me was his attitude towards [...]

Darrell Cannon-”You can be anything you wanna be”

The presentation of Darrell Cannon was astonishing. Sitting there and listening to him, it was almost unimaginable to most of us how a person can go through so much and still remain sane. But not only he persevered though days of unthinkable torture (cattle-rods, fake shotgun shots, humiliation) and nine years of solitude in Tamms, [...]

Darrell Cannon Presentation/Tamms

First of all, having the opportunity to listen to Darrell Cannon’s first hand experience was very beneficial.  I really value his courage to reflect on such horrible memories and speak about them to a group of people.  This was/is clearly a tragedy. No doubt about it.  Not only did he lose 24 years of his [...]

Reflections on Lisa Madigan’s Speech

On one hand, there was her side, stating that she and her office are “still looking at witness testimony and going back and looking at cases. We are working on a case-by-case basis.” “But the vast majority of the cases are over 20 years old.” So, is the age of the cases the defining factor why they should be ignored? The contrary seems more logical- the very fact that they are over 20 years old, they have not been reviewed properly and no one has been punished for the alleged torture incidents, grants them priority. They are not “just cases,” there are people who might be innocent and wasting away in prison.

I’m not a judge and don’t know all the specifities of all the Burge torture cases, so it would be extremely bias of me to just say “they are all innocent, let them go” and side with some of the protesters. But the point here is not about innocence, it is about the methods confessions were obtained and the right of those inmates to have a “fair and just” trial.