Ronald Sullivan: How I help free innocent people from prison
朗諾 · 蘇利文: 我如何協助無辜的囚犯重獲自由
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
你開了 19 個小時的超長車程
開始的 15 分鐘左右,
a hundred more times, easily,
wonderful, wonderful trip.
were away in Florida.
who will listen,
and Minnie and my kids!"
及我的孩子在一起啊!」
I have worked on
in Brooklyn, New York,
布魯克林犯下的謀殺案,
in the prosecutor's file,
to his public defender.
給予他的公設辯護人。
and we found it,
我們找到了它。
committed the crime.
from the Brooklyn District Attorney.
布魯克林區的地區檢察官的電話。
in designing a program
a unit in a prosecutor's office
檢察官辦公室底下的一個單位,
審查他們過去的案件,
they made mistakes.
誤判的案件,
在監獄被關了數十年,
significant time behind bars.
of the men and women
互動過的當事人有關。
in the course of this program.
I've been framed.
我是無辜的,我被陷害了。
like it was open and shut,
更仔細一點看那類案件。
a little bit closer at those cases.
and turned around and looked,
and in jail for 17-some-odd years.
在監獄待了 17 年以上。
so we took a look at it.
所以我們仔細地去看。
and there was an inconsistency.
發現了不一致的地方。
from where she said she was
that he didn't do it,
about this witness.
有些可疑的地方。
had a number on it.
that this witness had a record.
of non-digitized papers
沒有電子化的紙本資料,
29 years later.
it looked open and shut.
that juvenile confessions
were police and prosecutors.
他們的自白都是被強迫的,
different hairstyle,
不同身高,不同髮型,
that judges say all the time,
(註:英文原文是五個字)
his codefendant, Mr. Stuckey,
他的共同被告,史塔奇先生,
at counsel table in his place.
the rest of my life.
如果我有學到任何事,
anything that I've learned,
that just descends from above
wouldn't have died in prison.
就不會死在獄中了。
just an extra minute --
去看過檔案,找到收據,
find the receipt,
並說:「不可能這樣。」
and say, "That cannot be."
would be alive today.
would always recite,
經常背誦的一首詩。
give account if I abuse it.
their careers and their lives,
whatever you do,
不論是什麼職業,
he was released from prison.
you want to do?"
to walk on the sidewalk
about two weeks ago.
when we met with him
is locked up unjustly.
會被不正義地關起來。
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