After spending nearly ten years in prison, Cory Maye is finally free. The story, which was first brought to the attention of the internet community by Radley Balko in December 2005, involved Maye, a black man who was convicted or murder and subsequently sentenced to death row after shooting and killing Prentiss, Mississippi police officer Ron Jones, Jr. during a botched drug raid in December 2001. A detailed overview of the story can be found over at the Huffington Post.
There are a lot of people who deserve recognition for aiding Cory Maye in his nearly ten year struggle to win his freedom. Particularly deserving of praise is Bob Evans, the Jefferson Davis County public defender who was fired by the Prentiss Board Alderman for taking on Maye’s case as appellate counsel. Also in need of recognition is Abe Pawford, the associate at the Washington D.C. law firm Covington and Burling who agreed to take on Maye’s case pro bono.
Of course, I wouldn’t be doing justice to this story without offering special recognition to Radley Balko, whose tireless investigative journalism brought this story to a much wider audience. Libertarians are often maligned by their critics as being “selfish” and lacking “compassion.” Yet here’s a libertarian who had the courage to act upon his convictions and was able to help get a wrongfully convicted man off of death row. How many of the rest of us bloggers can claim likewise?
I strongly urge TMV readers to watch the video below. It not only provides a brief overview of many of the facts behind the Cory Maye case but also raises some very serious concerns regarding the role that race plays in America’s criminal justice system, the War on Drugs, the use of confidential informants in securing search warrants, and the use of paramilitary style raids to serve such warrants.
Birthplace: San Diego, CA
Birthdate: That’s for me to know
Political Party: Independent
Political Philosophy: Libertarian-liberal