Marty Stout and Glenn Ford

30 Years on Death Row

On March 30, 2015 The Times published an apology from the lead prosecutor in the 1984 Glenn Ford murder trail. As you may know, evidence was eventually produced that proved the Mr. Ford was innocent and he was released from prison on March 11, 2014. Glenn Ford had spent 30 years in prison for something he did not do. Probably because he was poor, Black and left handed. As of this writing, the state of Louisiana was fighting to avoid paying Mr. Ford any type of compensation. However, that shouldn't be surprising to anyone.

This essay is not about the death penalty. Those who favor it represent the worst our species has to offer and I wouldn't waste one second of my time trying to convince them of their breathtaking stupidity. Instead this essay addresses two other issues. The first is the Louisiana prison system, and the second is the apology itself.

Louisiana Tortures Prisoners

This text is taken directly from Mr. Stout's letter.

Mr. Ford spent 30 years of his life in a small, dingy cell. His surroundings were dire. Lighting was poor, heating and cooling were almost non-existent, food bordered on the uneatable. Nobody wanted to be accused of "coddling" a death row inmate.

The idea that an influential member of the Louisiana justice system can casually acknowledge that humans were, and probably still are knowingly and routinely kept in conditions unsuitable for animals fills me with almost uncontrollable rage and disgust. The fact that I firmly believe that Louisiana is not an exception, only makes things worse. Mr. Ford was caged like an animal 20 years before Guantanamo was a sparkle in Dick Cheney's eye. Guantanamo did not appear as an abominable anomaly, it was born out of the depravity and sadism of the American Justice System. A system of such malice and cruelty that it is now the subject of Human Rights organizations.

In its World Report 2014, HRW singled out the U.S. criminal justice system as a major source of human rights violations, thanks to systemic problems that range from severe sentencing requirements to the misuse of solitary confinement. The U.S. has the highest incarceration rate of any country in the world. While the overall U.S. population has decreased over the past four years, some 1.6 million people were incarcerated in federal and state prisons at the end of 2012. An additional 700,000 were held in local jails.

I will not attempt to deal with the racism that is deeply entrenched or the prison for profit system that turns humans into slaves. These will be topics for other days, since there is little risk that they will disappear soon.

What Mr. Stout's letter tells us is that the United States of America is now part of the problem and  not even remotely part of the solution. Like so many other deeply flawed and repulsive governments that we commonly berate for being backward, America has a Criminal Injustice System and it seems very, very proud of it.

A Self-serving Apology

Mr. Stout appears to throw himself on the sword of public opinion. A sword known for its dullness and malleability. He describes himself and his role in the conviction of Mr. Ford as follows:

In 1984, I was 33 years old. I was arrogant, judgmental, narcissistic and very full of myself. I was not as interested in justice as I was in winning. To borrow a phrase from Al Pacino in the movie "And Justice for All," "Winning became everything."

After the death verdict in the Ford trial, I went out with others and celebrated with a few rounds of drinks. That's sick. I had been entrusted with the duty to seek the death of a fellow human being, a very solemn task that certainly did not warrant any "celebration."
In my rebuttal argument during the penalty phase of the trial, I mocked Mr. Ford, stating that this man wanted to stay alive so he could be given the opportunity to prove his innocence. I continued by saying this should be an affront to each of you jurors, for he showed no remorse, only contempt for your verdict.

I have to say that I find Mr. Stout's 30 previous years of silence to be both odd and telling. For me there is little doubt that his apology is conveniently timed to get ahead of what will likely be a shit-storm of publicly, especially in light of the recent Texas case in which evidence withheld by a prosecutor likely resulted in the execution of an innocent man; not that Rick Perry would lose any sleep over such a barbaric act.

I don't believe that a self-confessed narcissist changes. Narcissism is life style as well as a psychological state of mind. Narcissist don't stop being narcissist any more than psychopaths stop being psychopaths. Maybe he has been actively involved in trying to get Mr. Ford released, however, such activity was conspicuously absent from his letter of Apology, which is way I think the apology is insincere, at best.

I think Mr. Stout knows that America loves it when someone apologizes. Americans love to forgive. It is perhaps one of the country's most noble characteristics. However, in this case, I suspect that Mr. Stout, as a good narcissist, has calculated the benefits and risks of an apology and found that a heart-felt apology would very much be in his own best interest.

I too like to forgive, and would love to have to change the ending of this essay. If you know of a kinder, gentler side of Mr. Stout, a side that suggests his soul is and has been as tortured as Mr. Ford was for the past 30 years, then send me the information and I will gladly rewrite the ending.

For those of you interested, The Young Turks did a nice video on this subject. It's worth watching. Their conclusions were much less cynical than mine.

Post Script

Above I mentioned that the state of Louisiana was fighting against providing any type of compensation to Ford. Despite the fact the Stout, the subject of this essay, came out strongly in favor of some type of restitution. The battle is now over and the state has successfully avoided having to pay any amount of compensation.  Mr. Ford has late stage lung cancer and is likely to die soon. I think it can be argued that had Ford been free for those 30 years, the diagnosis of cancer would have occurred earlier and it is reasonable to assume that his life might have gone on longer than it will. In essence Louisiana did successfully execute Mr. Ford. They just took 30 years to do it.

The judge in the case used Pre-Crime to say that the court thought Ford was somehow linked to the crime despite the lack of evidence for such an assertion. To the very end, the criminal justice system of Louisiana his going to stand tall with its boot on the neck of Mr. Ford, and they intend to keep it there until he draws his last breath. How proud they must be.