I Confronted the Man Whose Crime Put Me in Prison

[Disir]

I found a very interesting article that I think some of you will dig.

n February 2014, I headed to the Eastham prison in East Texas to meet the man who turned my whole world upside down, Alonzo Hardy. He and another man robbed and murdered a crack dealer in Dallas in 1997, then skipped town while I was charged and then convicted for his crime. As I drove past the guard station and the men in white working the fields, I wondered what I could possibly say to the man who almost let me be executed for something he did. The anger, frustration and bitterness started to swell inside like a fever. To be honest, I felt like I might explode in violence when I saw him. But I knew I couldn’t do that. It would defeat the entire purpose of why I was there.
Ever since I was freed from prison in 2009, I’ve been struggling to understand what happened to me, and trying to find meaning in the years I’ve got left. It’s not like I could just pick up where I left off. I was 26 when I was sentenced and almost 40 when I got out. I was engaged to be married, now my fiancée is with another man. My sons are all grown up. There’s no point in pretending that everything’s fine, that I’m whole when I’m not. Sometimes I think, where would I be now if none of this had ever happened? They took 13 years of my life away. Those were the years when I was should have been raising my family and building a career. Instead, I was sitting in a prison cell trying hard just to stay sane.

I Confronted the Man Whose Crime Sent Me to Prison

 

[shart_attack]

I find the story of Darby Tillis to be one of the most fascinating miscarriages of justice in the history of this republic, myself. Dunno why his name doesn't show up on this page, though:

List of exonerated death row inmates - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Just Google "Darby Tillis", if you've unfortunately never heard about the travesty that was his 20+ year ordeal in the state of Illinois.

 

[Disir]

Darby Tillis is tragic.

Illinois. Some of the most corrupt bs ever. In fact, I think Jon Burge will be released next year.

Have you ever read Scott Turow's book Ultimate Punishment?

 

[shart_attack]

Darby Tillis is tragic.

Illinois. Some of the most corrupt bs ever. In fact, I think Jon Burge will be released next year.

Have you ever read Scott Turow's book Ultimate Punishment?

No, I have not.

Does he take an interactionist sociological approach toward the death penalty or a conflict approach toward it?

I'm going to bet that he certainly doesn't have a functionalist mindset toward it.

 

[Disir]

Darby Tillis is tragic.

Illinois. Some of the most corrupt bs ever. In fact, I think Jon Burge will be released next year.

Have you ever read Scott Turow's book Ultimate Punishment?

No, I have not.

Does he take an interactionist sociological approach toward the death penalty or a conflict approach toward it?

I'm going to bet that he certainly doesn't have a functionalist mindset toward it.

Functionalist. It's more a memoir of his experience on the Illinois's Commission on Capital Punishment. He argues both sides of the debate and is a death penalty agnostic-his words. It's because he is a death penalty agnostic, to me at least, that indicates he is a functionalist to the core. That said, it isn't some over emotional tantrum. It's practical. He is responsible for bringing to my attention the increase of felonies and other things. I wish this guy wrote more nonfiction.