TN: say amen, somebody
From the Tennessean:
DA's letters to inmate improper, some legal experts say - References to religion in correspondence questioned
Religion has long had its place in the criminal justice system, where witnesses swear on the Bible and some courtrooms convene with prayer, where prisoners undergo jailhouse conversions and victims turn to faith for solace and answers.
But when a Midstate district attorney embarked on a deeply personal, deeply religious two-year correspondence with a murderer he helped prosecute — offering his prayers, quoting Scriptures and telling him that God was speaking to him against a plea bargain in the case — did he cross a line?
Wait, I think I know the answer to this one...
1 Comment:
I'm not sure there's anything wrong with this. He apparently had finished the case before corresponding with the defendant (the article says he was convicted), and it looks like he's trying to help this guy out. It seems like a positive thing- and something our system should encourage- for a prosecutor to be able to put a human face on the person he's trying to lock up.
Just a thought, and the article certainly wasn't informative enough to make it clear if there was an ethics violation or not.
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