'The illusion that the system works'

"I know that my words seem like I have given up, but the facts are in," he wrote. "The courts have lied, the cops and the prosecutors have lied. I just ask that you take all the paperwork that I send you and show the public that the only thing the judicial system does is help cover up bad detective work at all cost, and if an innocent man has to die, that's cool too, because it helps keep up the illusion that the system works."

Campbell's attorneys hope to convince a federal judge to order a new trial, based in part on the new DNA test results.

Some advocates are trying to generate public outrage. Eunice Timoney Ravenna is a volunteer with the Cincinnati Chapter of Ohioans to Stop Execution.

"Now that his story is out, what will people in Hamilton County do -- call the governor, and expect, no, demand, a response?" she says. "Or turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to the call to justice and do nothing? We should all remember the state executes in our name -- my name and yours. We all ought to be doing something."

The county's record so far is appalling, according to Luken.

"Every published survey in recent years, such as Professor Liebman of Columbia University Law School and The Chicago Tribune 1999 series, identify Hamilton County as in the top tier of counties sending people to Death Row," Luken says. "We are 8 percent of Ohio's population and consistently 25 percent of Ohio's Death Row population. Our county is, in fact, 'Little Texas' when it comes to executions."

 Discuss this article on the forums. (0 posts)