Ronald Sullivan: How I help free innocent people from prison
Ronald Salivan (Ronald Sullivan): Kako pomažem da se nedužni ljudi oslobode iz zatvora
Ronald Sullivan is a leading theorist in the areas of criminal law, criminal procedure, trial practice and techniques, legal ethics and race theory. Full bio
Double-click the English transcript below to play the video.
a 19-hour, very long drive
na vrlo dugu vožnju od 19 sati
ovog putovanja od 19 sati,
a hundred more times, easily,
još stotinu puta, nesumnjivo,
wonderful, wonderful trip.
u povratku do kuće.
dok ste bili na putu u Floridi.
were away in Florida.
who will listen,
and Minnie and my kids!"
Mini i sa svojom decom!“
Pravnog fakulteta na Harvardu
I have worked on
i osam meseci u zatvoru
u Bruklinu u Njujorku
in Brooklyn, New York,
u svom zadnjem džepu
da je bio u Diznijevom svetu.
in the prosecutor's file,
njegovom javnom braniocu.
to his public defender.
nekih dvadesetak godina.
i našli smo ga,
and we found it,
počinio zločin.
committed the crime.
od okružnog javnog tužioca u Bruklinu.
from the Brooklyn District Attorney.
za osmišljavanje programa
in designing a program
za razmatranje osuda“.
a unit in a prosecutor's office
je u suštini jedinica u tužilaštvu
da li su napravili greške.
they made mistakes.
u istoriji Njujorka.
značajnu količinu vremena iza rešetaka.
significant time behind bars.
o par drugih muškaraca i žena
of the men and women
za vreme ovog programa.
in the course of this program.
17 godina u zatvoru
u suštini je govorilo:
I've been framed.
Namešteno mi je.
like it was open and shut,
da je slučaj čist kao suza,
sa jednim svedokom
da malo bolje pogledamo te slučajeve.
a little bit closer at those cases.
and turned around and looked,
okrenula se i pogledala,
and in jail for 17-some-odd years.
i proveo je u zatvoru 17 i nešto godina.
pa smo ga pregledali.
so we took a look at it.
i postojala je nedoslednost.
and there was an inconsistency.
from where she said she was
sa onog mesta na kome je rekla da je bila
that he didn't do it,
da nije to počinio,
about this witness.
u vezi sa ovim svedokom.
se nalazio broj.
had a number on it.
da je ovaj svedok imao dosije.
that this witness had a record.
of non-digitized papers
nedigitalizovanih dokumenata
o čemu se radi u tom dosijeu,
ono što je videla.
29 years later.
29 godina kasnije.
it looked open and shut.
sve delovalo jasno kao dan.
da su priznanja maloletnika
that juvenile confessions
su to dokazali više puta.
were police and prosecutors.
bili su policija i tužioci.
priznanje je bilo pod prinudom,
forenzičku analizu unazad,
different hairstyle,
i drugačijim frizurama,
„saslušanje radi poništavanja“,
što sudije stalno govore,
that judges say all the time,
nakon iznetih argumenata i rekao:
his codefendant, Mr. Stuckey,
gospodin Staki,
at counsel table in his place.
sedela za stolom.
the rest of my life.
nešto što sam naučio,
anything that I've learned,
that just descends from above
wouldn't have died in prison.
ne bi umro u zatvoru.
koja sam opisao,
just an extra minute --
find the receipt,
da pregleda dosije, nađe račun
and say, "That cannot be."
i kaže: „Ovo ne može biti.“
would be alive today.
od mojih omiljenih pesama.
would always recite,
Bendžamin Elajdža Mejs,
give account if I abuse it.
polagati račune ako ga zloupotrebim.
svoju karijeru i svoj život,
their careers and their lives,
čime god da se bavite,
whatever you do,
he was released from prison.
da zagrli bratanicu
you want to do?"
da hodam trotoarom,
to walk on the sidewalk
pre oko dve nedelje.
about two weeks ago.
when we met with him
kada smo se sreli sa njim
is locked up unjustly.
ne bude nepravedno zatvoren.
ABOUT THE SPEAKER
Ronald S. Sullivan Jr. - Clinical professor of lawRonald Sullivan is a leading theorist in the areas of criminal law, criminal procedure, trial practice and techniques, legal ethics and race theory.
Why you should listen
Professor Ronald Sullivan is the faculty director of the Harvard Criminal Justice Institute and the Harvard Trial Advocacy Workshop. Sullivan also serves as Faculty Dean of Winthrop House at Harvard College. He is the first African American ever appointed Faculty Dean in Harvard's history. He is a founding member and Senior Fellow of the Jamestown Project.
Sullivan has merged legal theory and practice over the course of his career in unique and cutting-edge ways. In 2014, he was tasked to design and implement a Conviction Review Unit (CRU) for the newly elected Brooklyn District Attorney. The CRU, designed to identify and exonerate wrongfully convicted persons, quickly became regarded as the model conviction integrity program in the nation. In its first year of operation alone, Sullivan discovered over 10 wrongful convictions, which the DA ultimately vacated. Some of the exonerated citizens had served more than 30 years in prison before they were released.
In 2008, Sullivan served as Chair, Criminal Justice Advisory Committee for then-Senator Barack Obama's presidential campaign. In this capacity, his committee made policy recommendations on a range of issues in an effort to put into practice some of the best research in the field. He also served as a member of the National Legal Advisory Group for the Barack Obama Presidential Campaign. Finally, Sullivan was appointed Advisor to the Department of Justice Presidential Transition Team.
In 2007, in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, Sullivan was asked to create a system to solve a criminal justice crisis. More than 6,000 citizens were incarcerated in and around New Orleans without representation and with all official records destroyed by Hurricane Katrina. Sullivan designed an indigent defense delivery system that resulted in the release of nearly all the 6000 inmates.
Sullivan still maintains an appellate and trial practice. He has represented persons ranging from politicians to professional athletes to recording artists to pro bono clients in criminal jeopardy. Representative clients include: The family of Michael Brown, former New England Patriot Aaron Hernandez and the family of Usaamah Rahim.
Sullivan is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Morehouse College and the Harvard Law School, where he served as President of the Harvard Black Law Students Association and as General Editor of the Harvard BlackLetter Law Journal.
Ronald S. Sullivan Jr. | Speaker | TED.com