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| Corrupt Wisconsin police targeted the innocent to tragic consequence. Image - Kathe Kollwitz, (1867-1945). Kollwitz is a major anti-fascist artist who lived in Germany, and never recovered from the death of her son in WW I. |
Madison, Wisconsin — News that Gov Tony Evers' (D) Pardon Board declined to review the Brendan Dassey pardon and commutation petition does not surprise, (AP).
This is a political decision, defending the wrongful conviction of an innocent Wisconsin man, convicted as a child, and preyed upon by the tree jumpers populating Wisconsin law enforcement, (see Under the Hood: Brendan Dassey, Language Impairments, and Judicial Ignorance, (full paper) LaVigne and Miles).
The advisory Board's decision was released in a form letter on the Friday before Christmas, the time to conceal the bad work of Wisconsin politicians.
No elected politician has ever publicly taken the side of the exonerated and the wrongfully convicted in Wisconsin. Not once.
Consider that, in Wisconsin of all places and to be clear the worst place to be black, standing up and speaking the truth is an exercise so dreaded by the denizens of public office, that they would rather see innocent lives destroyed than to advocate for their liberty.
Neither has any daily newspaper advocated for the freedom of the innocent.
Seth Waxman — a member of Brendan Dassey's legal team — said this year that when reviewing the outrageous interrogation of Dassey by Mark Wiegert, (current Sheriff of the Calumet County Sheriff's Office), and Tom Fassbender (Wisconsin DoJ, DCI investigator (ret)), that his "blood ran cold."
Gov Evers maintains the explicit state Constitutional authority and right to summarily reject the Board's decision and grant Mr. Dassey his immediate freedom with a stroke of a pen for any or no reason, (Rolling Stone).
This action would entail using capacities that to date Evers has not displayed — intellectual honesty, knowledge of Wisconsin law enforcement, and to the worst of Evers' personal defects, a moral backbone and sensibility to the call of social justice.
Put yourself in the place of Tony Evers, what would you do? Defend the innocent and call out the guilty, or hide?
From the Wrongful Conviction Podcast and Jason Flom:
Dassey Team Response to Pardon Board Clemency Denial
On behalf of Brendan’s lawyers, Laura Nirider and Steven Drizin, we share the following statement:
Today, only five days before Christmas, the Wisconsin Pardon Advisory Board chose to reject Brendan Dassey’s clemency petition in an unsigned form letter, without reviewing the petition on the merits.
Had the Board reviewed Brendan’s petition on the merits, it would have seen what more than 250 national experts -- and millions of ordinary people around the globe – see: a terrible miscarriage of justice.
Now 30 years old, Brendan Dassey has been imprisoned for thirteen years based only on a false confession that is inconsistent with the known facts of the case, has been disproven by DNA and forensic evidence, and was immediately recanted. That false confession was the result of a deeply flawed interrogation of a 16-year-old special education student with profound learning disabilities.
Although the Pardon Advisory Board has stated that it will not consider commutations, Governor Evers is not bound by those rules. He does have the power to issue commutations under the Wisconsin Constitution and should do so when, as here, courts fail to deliver justice. Our partners around the country stand ready to work with the Governor to develop an appropriate process for the review of commutation petitions.
In the meantime, we will continue to work, respectfully but relentlessly, towards the day when this Governor recognizes in Brendan Dassey the gentle, cheerful, and kind human being whom we have known for twelve years. A good teacher never forgets his most vulnerable students; a good Governor never forgets his most vulnerable citizens.
We spoke to Brendan this morning. While the Board’s choice today has caused pain to many around the globe, Brendan wishes to express his profound gratitude – and his Christmas wishes -- to his many supporters. He is not giving up hope, and neither are we.
Now more than ever, we need your help. If you’d like to support our continuing effort to free Brendan, please consider doing the following two things:
(1)Re-sign the petition to Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers at bringbrendanhome.org and add your request that he “review the petition on the merits.”
(2)Send Brendan a letter of support and hope. Your words of encouragement mean more to him than anything else. You can address the letter to Brendan Dassey, #516985, Oshkosh Correctional Institution, PO Box 3310, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3310, U.S.A.
Thank you for standing with us.
Happy holidays and keep on fighting.
Signed,
The team at Wrongful Conviction
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