Ronald Sullivan: How I help free innocent people from prison
רונלד סאליבן: כיצד אני עוזר לחפים מפשע להשתחרר מהכלא
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
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a 19-hour, very long drive
ארוכה מאוד, של 19 שעות,
לנסיעה זו של 19 שעות,
a hundred more times, easily,
כמה מאות פעמים, ברוגע,
wonderful, wonderful trip.
נפלא, נפלא הזה.
were away in Florida.
who will listen,
and Minnie and my kids!"
ועם הילדים שלי!"
I have worked on
in Brooklyn, New York,
in the prosecutor's file,
אל התיק של התובע,
to his public defender.
אל סנגורו הציבורי.
and we found it,
ומצאנו אותה,
committed the crime.
from the Brooklyn District Attorney.
התובע המחוזי של ברוקלין.
in designing a program
מעוניין לגבש פרוייקט
a unit in a prosecutor's office
יחידה במשרדי התובע
על תיקים קודמים שלהם
they made mistakes.
significant time behind bars.
זמן ניכר מאחורי הסורגים.
of the men and women
כמה גברים ונשים נוספים
in the course of this program.
במהלך הפרוייקט.
שבעקרון אמר,
I've been framed.
הפלילו אותי.
like it was open and shut,
a little bit closer at those cases.
טוב יותר את המקרים האלה.
and turned around and looked,
הסתובבה והביטה לאחור,
and in jail for 17-some-odd years.
והיה בכלא 17 שנים.
so we took a look at it.
לכן החלטנו לבדוק.
and there was an inconsistency.
וגילינו חוסר עקביות מסוים.
from where she said she was
לרוץ מהמקום שלדבריה הייתה בו
that he didn't do it,
שהוא לא ביצע את הפשע,
about this witness.
לא כשורה עם העדה הזאת.
had a number on it.
עם מספר עליה.
that this witness had a record.
שלעדה היה רישום פלילי.
of non-digitized papers
של ניירת לא ממוחשבת,
את מה שראתה.
מאחורי הסורגים.
29 years later.
it looked open and shut.
הוא נראה חד וחלק.
that juvenile confessions
שהודאות באשמה של קטינים
הוכיחו זאת מספר פעמים.
were police and prosecutors.
המשטרה והקטגורים.
שנגבתה בכפייה,
וביצענו זיהוי פלילי
different hairstyle,
בתסרוקות אחרות,
רציתי לראות
that judges say all the time,
שהשופטים תמיד אומרים,
הוא הרים את מבטו ואמר,
his codefendant, Mr. Stuckey,
שותפו להרשעה, מר סטאקי,
at counsel table in his place.
the rest of my life.
anything that I've learned,
דבר אחד שאני למדתי,
that just descends from above
שיורד אלינו ממעל
wouldn't have died in prison.
מר סטאקי לא היה מת בכלא.
just an extra minute --
find the receipt,
למצוא את הקבלה,
and say, "That cannot be."
ולומר, "זה לא יכול להיות."
would be alive today.
would always recite,
give account if I abuse it.
ולענות אם אעשה בה רע,
their careers and their lives,
את חייהם ואת הקריירה שלהם,
whatever you do,
לא משנה מה עיסוקכם,
תעזרו לו להתרומם,
he was released from prison.
you want to do?"
שתרצה לעשות?"
to walk on the sidewalk
לצעוד על מדרכה
about two weeks ago.
when we met with him
is locked up unjustly.
יאסר יותר שלא בצדק.
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