Chapomatic

Silent Running goes active with an open letter to the Mississippi governor about the Cory Maye case.

Although that description seems pretty cut and dried, there are a number of issues about this case that raise profound concerns about Mr. Maye’s conviction, and most certainly, the imposition of the death penalty. These issues raise the question of why Mr. Maye was even indicted and charged to begin with. These issues create the sense that the entire situation is one of a terrible tragedy (the death of the police officer), grossly compounded by a heinous miscarriage of justice.

It’s the staffers who count, the folks who normally ignore the anti-death penalty crowd (because this is an issue the pro-death penalty folks are also getting behind, there’s a chance to get different attention). If you know a staffie somewhere connected with Mississippi, it might be time to cash in that marker. Same with someone connected to the NRA or NAACP–this is high risk-high reward politics, too, and someone might be awake enough to notice the effect possible in loudly supporting a reexamination of why this happened.

There’s still a good possibility there is more to the situation than we know. However, there’s definitely enough odd information in this case for the infinite line of appeals that murderers get to be used in this man’s case. If a banality-of-evil guy like Tookie Williams gets vigils and Hollywood stars, how about some attention on a guy who might well have done exactly what you or I would have done at three in the morning when someone breaks down your door?