Introduction and My Perspective

Hello ALL.

My name is Dominique Danielle Triplett. I am a 21 year old senior at Jackson State University. I am an English major with a concentration in Journalism. I don’t have just one set career goal, because I want to do so many things. I enjoy taking pictures and would like to eventually travel the world, taking pictures and writing stories on different happenings. I thought about teaching English, a subject that I’ve loved since 10^th grade. I love to write so of course I want to write a book and even be able to create a t.v. series. Another thing I want to do is become a lawyer. I would like to work for the Innocence Project. I was inspired to work with the organization this summer when I interned at Jackson Free Press.

The story in particular was the story about Cedric Willis, who at the time was a 19-year-old wrongly accused of rape, robbery, and capital murder. Willis spent 12 years in prison. He was finally released in March of 2006. Cedric now travels the state, sharing his experiences with others.

After reading Cedric’s story, I felt so angry with the legal system. Why did it take so long for Cedric to be released? How could he be charged when there was no real proof? Why didn’t the court allow him to present the fact that the DNA for the rape didn’t match his? I just had so many questions.

I just have mixed emotions about the law in this country. In the case of Willis, I didn’t like how the law handled things. I think him being charged was totally wrong. There was no evidence, but he was still charged and sentenced to life, plus 90 years.

Then there are other cases where though I am unhappy about the verdict, I must admit that the law is justified. One case in particular, is the Casey Anthony trial. The prosecution had only circumstantial evidence, nothing concrete, but I just knew in my gut that Casey killed her daughter and that she should have gotten life in prison or the death penalty. It’s okay though, because the crazy law that we have might work out like it did for O.J. Simpson. He was accused of killing his ex wife and her friend, but was found not-guilty. Then he was found guilty for stealing his own memorabilia and got life in prison. It has been cut down since then though.