Keep on riding with us, says, we continue to broadcast the balance and defend the discourse from the Hip Hop Weekly Studios. Welcome back to Civic Cipher Army host Rams's Job.

Keep on riding with us, says, we continue to broadcast the balance and defend the discourse from the Hip Hop Weekly Studios. Welcome back to Civic Cipher Army host Rams's Job.

Qward here as usual, accompanying who I'd like to call the pilot of this ship, King Rams Job.

Qward here as usual, accompanying who I'd like to call the pilot of this ship, King Rams Job.

Well, we are doing this for you and we appreciate you tuning in and we want you to stick around. The second half of the show is going to see us discussing how death Row systematically executes potentially innocent black people and I feel like we shouldn't need to add this, but we're also going to discuss why we think that is wrong, just in case you are someone you know doesn't see a problem with it. Of course, there are three cases we're going to discuss that all happened in the month of September that we feel you should know about. So stick around for that and so much more. But before we get there, it's time to discuss Baba Becoming a better Alli Baba and Today's Baba. Sponsored by Friends of the Movement. You can sign up for the free voter while at from fotmglobal dot com to support black businesses and allied businesses as well as make an impact with your spending. Again, that's Fotmglobal dot com. And today we want to take you about the National Council of Negro Women. If you haven't heard of the NCNW, please check the website NCNW dot org. I'll share a bit about their mission, which is to lead, empower and advocate for women of African descent, their families and communities. The National Council of Negro Women is an organization of organizations comprised of three hundred and thirty campuses in community based sections and thirty three national women's organizations that enlightens, inspires, and connects more than two million women and men. Its mission is to lead, advocate for, and empower women of African descent, their families and communities. It was founded in nineteen thirty five by doctor Mary McLoud Bethune, an influential educator and activist, and for more than fifty years, the iconic doctor Dorothy Hede was president of the NCNW. Today, the NCNW programs are grounded on a foundation of critical concerns that are now NCNW priorities. The organization promotes education, encourages entrepreneurship, financial literacy, and economic stability, educates women about health and promotes health care access, and promotes civic engagement, and advocates for sound public policy and social justice. Around here, Q and I have a saying. I'll let him chime in with the same.

Well, we are doing this for you and we appreciate you tuning in and we want you to stick around. The second half of the show is going to see us discussing how death Row systematically executes potentially innocent black people and I feel like we shouldn't need to add this, but we're also going to discuss why we think that is wrong, just in case you are someone you know doesn't see a problem with it. Of course, there are three cases we're going to discuss that all happened in the month of September that we feel you should know about. So stick around for that and so much more. But before we get there, it's time to discuss Baba Becoming a better Alli Baba and Today's Baba. Sponsored by Friends of the Movement. You can sign up for the free voter while at from fotmglobal dot com to support black businesses and allied businesses as well as make an impact with your spending. Again, that's Fotmglobal dot com. And today we want to take you about the National Council of Negro Women. If you haven't heard of the NCNW, please check the website NCNW dot org. I'll share a bit about their mission, which is to lead, empower and advocate for women of African descent, their families and communities. The National Council of Negro Women is an organization of organizations comprised of three hundred and thirty campuses in community based sections and thirty three national women's organizations that enlightens, inspires, and connects more than two million women and men. Its mission is to lead, advocate for, and empower women of African descent, their families and communities. It was founded in nineteen thirty five by doctor Mary McLoud Bethune, an influential educator and activist, and for more than fifty years, the iconic doctor Dorothy Hede was president of the NCNW. Today, the NCNW programs are grounded on a foundation of critical concerns that are now NCNW priorities. The organization promotes education, encourages entrepreneurship, financial literacy, and economic stability, educates women about health and promotes health care access, and promotes civic engagement, and advocates for sound public policy and social justice. Around here, Q and I have a saying. I'll let him chime in with the same.

I was not prepared for Ramses to toss that to me because he was the first person that I heard say it, and I adopted it. He likes to kind of platform me in situations like this. But the black woman, the closest thing on earth to God is something that we've not only adopted but truly how we feel. So continue to lead us, protect us, and watch over us as you always have.

I was not prepared for Ramses to toss that to me because he was the first person that I heard say it, and I adopted it. He likes to kind of platform me in situations like this. But the black woman, the closest thing on earth to God is something that we've not only adopted but truly how we feel. So continue to lead us, protect us, and watch over us as you always have.

Again, that's NCNW dot org. All right, well done, Just through you that one, because it just sounds better when when it doesn't. But sure I think it does. I think you're there's something about it, man. I just anyway, all right, So we have to talk about some some recent high profile executions that you may have encountered on social media. I realized that this is heavy. These these stories are grim for those of you who are courageous enough to continue to, you know, walk with us on this journey. You know, I feel like it's important to remind you as often as we as we can that we appreciate you taking a moment to take on problems that that aren't yours, or you know, to support us in our in our efforts to make the world a better place. And you know, we're journalists and we work in media, so this is what we do and this is our contribution. We're going to share a few stories and then of course we'll get to the story that may have come across your timeline about Marcellus Williams. But first, just know that these all happened within a month time span. Gives you an idea of exactly what we're up against. The first story comes from The Guardian. This one was September twentieth. South Carolina executed a man on death row on Friday, days after the key witness for the prosecution came forward to say he had lied at trial and the state was putting to death an innocent man, Khalil Divine black Son Allah, forty six, was killed by lethal injection, pronounced dead at six to fifty five PM, according to the Associated Press, which was one of several media witnesses to the execution. His lawyers had filed emergency motions for a delay this week, citing new testimonies suggesting he had been wrongfully convicted, but the state Supreme Court rejected the police and Henry McMaster, the Republican governor, announced just before the execution that he would not be granting clemency. We're going to have to circle back to that one. I just don't feel like leaving these in the wings and you having to anticipate when the other shoe was going to drop. So we're just going to get through all these. This next one comes from The Guardian, going from South Carolina now to Oklahoma. Oklahoma executed a man by lethal injectson Thursday morning, despite conflicting evidence regarding his guilt. Emanuel little John, aged fifty two, was executed by lethal injection for his role in the nineteen ninety two shooting death of a convenience store owner during a robbery in Oklahoma City. Little John was the third inmate put to death by the state this year. He was twenty years old at the time the crime was committed. During the robbery, the store owner, Kenneth Meres, thirty one, was shot in the face while trying to defend himself. Although little John admitted to his involvement in the robbery. He has maintained that his accomplice, Glenn Bethany, was the one who pulled the trigger. Bethany was sentenced to life without parole, while Little John was sentenced to death. Quote. I committed robbery that had devastating consequence, as Little John said during the hearing. It goes on to say, but I repeat, I did not kill mister Meers. Little John's case has raised questions over conflicting evidence, with some witnesses pointing at Bethany as the shooter. His legal team argued against his executions, citing inconsistent prosecutions in his case. His lawyers also mentioned Little John's troubled childhood and underdeveloped brain at the time of the crime. His team emphasized his personal growth in prison, where he has become a positive role model for his family. Several jurors have admitted they mistakenly voted for the death penalty because they misunderstood the implications of a life without parole sentence. During a hearing last month, Oklahoma's Pardon and Parole Board voted three to two to recommend the state's governor, Kevin Stitt, spare Little John's life. In twenty twenty one, the governor commuted the sentence of Julius Jones, who was convicted for the nineteen ninety nine murder of Paul Howell, to life without the possibility of parole, just a few hours before his execution. But no such decision was taken for little John. Okay, and uh, this is the one that you might be a little bit more familiar with. This from the Associated Press. A Missouri man convicted of breaking into a woman's home and repeatedly stabbing her was executed Tuesday over the objections of the victim's family and the prosecutor, who wanted the death since commuted to life in prison. Marcellus Williams, fifty five, was convicted in the nineteen ninety eight killing of Lesia Gale, who was stabbed during the burglary of her suburban Saint Louis home. Williams was put to death despite questions his attorneys raised over jury's selection at his trial and the handling of evidence in the case. His clemency petition focused on how Gale's relatives wanted Williams the sentence commuted to life without the possibility of parole. Quote the family defines closure as Marcellus being allowed to live. Unquote, the petition stated, quote Marcellus's execution is not necessary. As Williams lay awaiting execution, he appeared to converse with a spiritual advisor seated next to him. Williams wiggled his feet underneath a white sheet that was pulled up to his neck and moved his head slightly while his spiritual advisor continued to talk. Then Williams's chest heaved about half a dozen times, and then he showed no movement. Okay, now I'm going to start, and I know you have some things to share with USQ. I don't believe that we are saying that these people are completely innocent of all crimes. They just randomly found someone and put them on death row. That has happened many times throughout our history in this country. But I'm not saying that these instances are Indeed, many instances like these are blameless the individuals at the center of the story.

Again, that's NCNW dot org. All right, well done, Just through you that one, because it just sounds better when when it doesn't. But sure I think it does. I think you're there's something about it, man. I just anyway, all right, So we have to talk about some some recent high profile executions that you may have encountered on social media. I realized that this is heavy. These these stories are grim for those of you who are courageous enough to continue to, you know, walk with us on this journey. You know, I feel like it's important to remind you as often as we as we can that we appreciate you taking a moment to take on problems that that aren't yours, or you know, to support us in our in our efforts to make the world a better place. And you know, we're journalists and we work in media, so this is what we do and this is our contribution. We're going to share a few stories and then of course we'll get to the story that may have come across your timeline about Marcellus Williams. But first, just know that these all happened within a month time span. Gives you an idea of exactly what we're up against. The first story comes from The Guardian. This one was September twentieth. South Carolina executed a man on death row on Friday, days after the key witness for the prosecution came forward to say he had lied at trial and the state was putting to death an innocent man, Khalil Divine black Son Allah, forty six, was killed by lethal injection, pronounced dead at six to fifty five PM, according to the Associated Press, which was one of several media witnesses to the execution. His lawyers had filed emergency motions for a delay this week, citing new testimonies suggesting he had been wrongfully convicted, but the state Supreme Court rejected the police and Henry McMaster, the Republican governor, announced just before the execution that he would not be granting clemency. We're going to have to circle back to that one. I just don't feel like leaving these in the wings and you having to anticipate when the other shoe was going to drop. So we're just going to get through all these. This next one comes from The Guardian, going from South Carolina now to Oklahoma. Oklahoma executed a man by lethal injectson Thursday morning, despite conflicting evidence regarding his guilt. Emanuel little John, aged fifty two, was executed by lethal injection for his role in the nineteen ninety two shooting death of a convenience store owner during a robbery in Oklahoma City. Little John was the third inmate put to death by the state this year. He was twenty years old at the time the crime was committed. During the robbery, the store owner, Kenneth Meres, thirty one, was shot in the face while trying to defend himself. Although little John admitted to his involvement in the robbery. He has maintained that his accomplice, Glenn Bethany, was the one who pulled the trigger. Bethany was sentenced to life without parole, while Little John was sentenced to death. Quote. I committed robbery that had devastating consequence, as Little John said during the hearing. It goes on to say, but I repeat, I did not kill mister Meers. Little John's case has raised questions over conflicting evidence, with some witnesses pointing at Bethany as the shooter. His legal team argued against his executions, citing inconsistent prosecutions in his case. His lawyers also mentioned Little John's troubled childhood and underdeveloped brain at the time of the crime. His team emphasized his personal growth in prison, where he has become a positive role model for his family. Several jurors have admitted they mistakenly voted for the death penalty because they misunderstood the implications of a life without parole sentence. During a hearing last month, Oklahoma's Pardon and Parole Board voted three to two to recommend the state's governor, Kevin Stitt, spare Little John's life. In twenty twenty one, the governor commuted the sentence of Julius Jones, who was convicted for the nineteen ninety nine murder of Paul Howell, to life without the possibility of parole, just a few hours before his execution. But no such decision was taken for little John. Okay, and uh, this is the one that you might be a little bit more familiar with. This from the Associated Press. A Missouri man convicted of breaking into a woman's home and repeatedly stabbing her was executed Tuesday over the objections of the victim's family and the prosecutor, who wanted the death since commuted to life in prison. Marcellus Williams, fifty five, was convicted in the nineteen ninety eight killing of Lesia Gale, who was stabbed during the burglary of her suburban Saint Louis home. Williams was put to death despite questions his attorneys raised over jury's selection at his trial and the handling of evidence in the case. His clemency petition focused on how Gale's relatives wanted Williams the sentence commuted to life without the possibility of parole. Quote the family defines closure as Marcellus being allowed to live. Unquote, the petition stated, quote Marcellus's execution is not necessary. As Williams lay awaiting execution, he appeared to converse with a spiritual advisor seated next to him. Williams wiggled his feet underneath a white sheet that was pulled up to his neck and moved his head slightly while his spiritual advisor continued to talk. Then Williams's chest heaved about half a dozen times, and then he showed no movement. Okay, now I'm going to start, and I know you have some things to share with USQ. I don't believe that we are saying that these people are completely innocent of all crimes. They just randomly found someone and put them on death row. That has happened many times throughout our history in this country. But I'm not saying that these instances are Indeed, many instances like these are blameless the individuals at the center of the story.

But according to what we know, one of these instances, however, is yeah.

But according to what we know, one of these instances, however, is yeah.

Okay. But our position in discussing this isn't to say that our position is one that needs to shed light on the fact that this happens more frequently than people know. Recently, we've been talking about Marcellus Williams, and for us to do a segment dedicated to that, that would have been sort of par for the course for us. But more often than that, we deal data, and in dealing in data, we can take a look at charts, grafts, trends, tendencies, and we can share examples like this that paint a better picture. We're not trying to say that the prosecution has no case. I think that in a position we can adopt as far as this segment is concerned, is that the only case that a prosecution can make that meets the burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt should not result in a death penalty sentence, if anything. And it's in that space where we are able to articulate this segment in the way that we have, which is what we're witnessing is state sanction executions that are systemic, and often enough, we're looking at black people at the center of it. Now, Q, I know that you've done a good amount of research into that data, So talk to us a little bit about some of the findings and maybe how they hit you.

Okay. But our position in discussing this isn't to say that our position is one that needs to shed light on the fact that this happens more frequently than people know. Recently, we've been talking about Marcellus Williams, and for us to do a segment dedicated to that, that would have been sort of par for the course for us. But more often than that, we deal data, and in dealing in data, we can take a look at charts, grafts, trends, tendencies, and we can share examples like this that paint a better picture. We're not trying to say that the prosecution has no case. I think that in a position we can adopt as far as this segment is concerned, is that the only case that a prosecution can make that meets the burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt should not result in a death penalty sentence, if anything. And it's in that space where we are able to articulate this segment in the way that we have, which is what we're witnessing is state sanction executions that are systemic, and often enough, we're looking at black people at the center of it. Now, Q, I know that you've done a good amount of research into that data, So talk to us a little bit about some of the findings and maybe how they hit you.

So we spend a lot of time on our show talking about how we feel, and people can push back because they don't feel the same. So I want to read some data. If anyone wants to double check, it's very very easy, not only as Google free, but I'll even point you to my sources, the Innocence Project and the Equal Justice Initiatives. And this data can also be coroberated by the United States government. So it's not This isn't biased data that we use to try to shape a narrative. It's just straightforward data. However, you can here with the applic of this data, why the punishment for any crime, or why capital punishment and execution should not be the punishment for any crime, especially as rams is said, when in a lot of cases it's just beyond a reasonable doubt that the crime was even committed in the first place, and that you cannot undo an execution. A lot of prosecutors, a lot of governors, and there's another pattern here that you may have noticed, Republican governors of red states deciding that what I say is what should ultimately happen, even if I'm wrong, even if you can prove I'm wrong, I already said that's what I'm going to do, so reaching that end is more important than doing what's right.

So we spend a lot of time on our show talking about how we feel, and people can push back because they don't feel the same. So I want to read some data. If anyone wants to double check, it's very very easy, not only as Google free, but I'll even point you to my sources, the Innocence Project and the Equal Justice Initiatives. And this data can also be coroberated by the United States government. So it's not This isn't biased data that we use to try to shape a narrative. It's just straightforward data. However, you can here with the applic of this data, why the punishment for any crime, or why capital punishment and execution should not be the punishment for any crime, especially as rams is said, when in a lot of cases it's just beyond a reasonable doubt that the crime was even committed in the first place, and that you cannot undo an execution. A lot of prosecutors, a lot of governors, and there's another pattern here that you may have noticed, Republican governors of red states deciding that what I say is what should ultimately happen, even if I'm wrong, even if you can prove I'm wrong, I already said that's what I'm going to do, so reaching that end is more important than doing what's right.

This reminds me of the Central Park five, now, the exonerated five, when Donald Trump was calling for the execution that the death penalty deeper them, but anyway, go ahead.

This reminds me of the Central Park five, now, the exonerated five, when Donald Trump was calling for the execution that the death penalty deeper them, but anyway, go ahead.

So the death penalty in America is a flawed, expensive policy defined by bias and error. It unfortunately targets the most vulnerable people in our society and corrupts the integrity of our criminal justice system. From police officers to family members of murder victims, Americans are recognizing that the death penalty does not make us safer, which I think people would assume. If you give a crime the most extreme punishment, people are less likely to commit that crime. It doesn't work, but typically in the process of committing a crime, we're not sitting down to process potential outcomes if we get caught. It's not typically how crime works. You and I know, and this is me stepping away from data for a second, that unfortunately our criminal justice system works better for rich people guilty of crimes than poor people that are innocent of crimes. Now that sounds like me saying something that I feel to be true. But the data will show you that I'm correct. Two hundred people since nineteen seventy three have been exonerated and released from death row. Sixteen hundred people have been executed in that same time. For every eight people executed, one person on death row was exonerated, so one out of eight at least four percent of those sentenced to death are innocent.

So the death penalty in America is a flawed, expensive policy defined by bias and error. It unfortunately targets the most vulnerable people in our society and corrupts the integrity of our criminal justice system. From police officers to family members of murder victims, Americans are recognizing that the death penalty does not make us safer, which I think people would assume. If you give a crime the most extreme punishment, people are less likely to commit that crime. It doesn't work, but typically in the process of committing a crime, we're not sitting down to process potential outcomes if we get caught. It's not typically how crime works. You and I know, and this is me stepping away from data for a second, that unfortunately our criminal justice system works better for rich people guilty of crimes than poor people that are innocent of crimes. Now that sounds like me saying something that I feel to be true. But the data will show you that I'm correct. Two hundred people since nineteen seventy three have been exonerated and released from death row. Sixteen hundred people have been executed in that same time. For every eight people executed, one person on death row was exonerated, so one out of eight at least four percent of those sentenced to death are innocent.

Wow.

Wow.

Important that there's a period after that word, because it doesn't say presumed, It doesn't say we think four percent are innocent. Period. Several factors drive and lead to wrongful convictions were seen in multiple cases that we just read about. Erroneous eyewitness identifications. I'm sorry it was the other guy, and prosecutors and legislators who have decided, well, we already said that guy is guilty. We don't want to be wrong. We don't want to say i'm sorry. You don't want to look in, and we don't want to look incompetent or biased, be subject to the fiscal responsibility of having had someone spend thirty years in prison for a crime they didn't commit. So I'm not going to look at the new evidence that you're trying to present that proves that this person didn't commit this crime, because we have DNA on the murder weapon. That's not this person who we accused of the crime. We're going to execute him anyway, because back then we made a good enough case to convict him, so we don't care if we were wrong. False and coursed confessions. People who can't afford proper legal representation, who confess to crimes to just get out of the situation that they're in. They don't know any better, they don't know what to do. They're scared, they're tired, they're hungry, they're whatever the case may be. You know, if you just say you did this, you can go. Kind of thing. Inadequate legal defense, same thing, poor vulnerable people who cannot hire a good enough attorney to advise them on what they should do in situations like this. False or misleading forensic evidence. In the case of brother Williams, here again DNA evidence not his DNA present on the weapon used to commit the murder. Too bad. Once again, we already made our decision, and we're right. False accusations, perjury and biased. Unfortunately, and if you guys watch television or read the news or whatever you get your information from, you may notice that tens of millions of people in this country are racist, flagrantly out loud, screaming it. Those types of people would be motivated to make false accusations against someone like myself, or call the cops on a neighbor watering the plants. Those type of people end up in juries, juries, end up not reflecting their communities. You know, black suspects on trial with all white juries in Deep South states where people are still flying the Confederate flag and wearing case a KK robes and marching with tiki torches. Now, I said those things off the top of my head. If you're listening and you heard these stories, go back and see what states they were in, and see if any of the things that I just said resonate specifically to the states where these things happened, Like Missouri, if you will, Like South Carolina if you will, Oklahoma. Yeah, I'll let you guys do your own research. I know it sounds like feelings, but it's also the truth. The death penalty removes, forgive how trivial this sounds, but it removes my bad. I made a mistake. I'm sorry. It's done, and you put somebody in jail for life incorrectly you're going to take part of their life away. If you later find out you were wrong. If you execut somebody and you later find out you were wrong, no justice can be done. No amount of money you give their family, no amount of length the apology letters that you write can fix that. Important to say this. In death penalty cases, perjury, false accusations, and official misconduct are the leading causes of wrongful convictions, and that's from prosecutors and law enforcement officers. A record one hundred and eleven exonerations in twenty eighteen involved witnesses who lied on the stand or falsely accused defendants. That's one hundred and eleven exonerations in one year because of that from death row. In fifty of those cases, the defendants were falsely accused of a crime that never happened. Not only did this person not commit a crime, a crime wasn't committed. Without proper legal representation, those people will get put to death again, not just for a crime they didn't do, but for a crime that no one did. So forgive me if you hear me getting more emotional as I read this. Misconduct by police or prosecutors was involved in seventy nine percent of homicide exonerations in twenty eighteen. This data coming from a single year. Concealing evidence that cast doubt on the defendant's guilt is the most common type of misconduct, which includes police officers threatening witnesses, forensic analysis, faking test results, and prosecutors presenting false testimony the people that we trust to uphold and enforce the law. Official misconduct is more common in death penalty cases, especially if the defendant is black. Data shows that eighty seven percent of black exgneries were sentenced to death were victims of official misconduct, compared to sixty seven percent of white death row exigneries. A person doesn't have to be innocent to be wrongly sentenced to death. That is very important thing to process. The intense pressure to obtain a death sentence and the political stakes for police, prosecutors, and even judges can cause serious legal errors and contribute to wrongful convictions and death sentences. There should not be any gray area here. The number shouldn't even be one percent of people killed being innocent.

Important that there's a period after that word, because it doesn't say presumed, It doesn't say we think four percent are innocent. Period. Several factors drive and lead to wrongful convictions were seen in multiple cases that we just read about. Erroneous eyewitness identifications. I'm sorry it was the other guy, and prosecutors and legislators who have decided, well, we already said that guy is guilty. We don't want to be wrong. We don't want to say i'm sorry. You don't want to look in, and we don't want to look incompetent or biased, be subject to the fiscal responsibility of having had someone spend thirty years in prison for a crime they didn't commit. So I'm not going to look at the new evidence that you're trying to present that proves that this person didn't commit this crime, because we have DNA on the murder weapon. That's not this person who we accused of the crime. We're going to execute him anyway, because back then we made a good enough case to convict him, so we don't care if we were wrong. False and coursed confessions. People who can't afford proper legal representation, who confess to crimes to just get out of the situation that they're in. They don't know any better, they don't know what to do. They're scared, they're tired, they're hungry, they're whatever the case may be. You know, if you just say you did this, you can go. Kind of thing. Inadequate legal defense, same thing, poor vulnerable people who cannot hire a good enough attorney to advise them on what they should do in situations like this. False or misleading forensic evidence. In the case of brother Williams, here again DNA evidence not his DNA present on the weapon used to commit the murder. Too bad. Once again, we already made our decision, and we're right. False accusations, perjury and biased. Unfortunately, and if you guys watch television or read the news or whatever you get your information from, you may notice that tens of millions of people in this country are racist, flagrantly out loud, screaming it. Those types of people would be motivated to make false accusations against someone like myself, or call the cops on a neighbor watering the plants. Those type of people end up in juries, juries, end up not reflecting their communities. You know, black suspects on trial with all white juries in Deep South states where people are still flying the Confederate flag and wearing case a KK robes and marching with tiki torches. Now, I said those things off the top of my head. If you're listening and you heard these stories, go back and see what states they were in, and see if any of the things that I just said resonate specifically to the states where these things happened, Like Missouri, if you will, Like South Carolina if you will, Oklahoma. Yeah, I'll let you guys do your own research. I know it sounds like feelings, but it's also the truth. The death penalty removes, forgive how trivial this sounds, but it removes my bad. I made a mistake. I'm sorry. It's done, and you put somebody in jail for life incorrectly you're going to take part of their life away. If you later find out you were wrong. If you execut somebody and you later find out you were wrong, no justice can be done. No amount of money you give their family, no amount of length the apology letters that you write can fix that. Important to say this. In death penalty cases, perjury, false accusations, and official misconduct are the leading causes of wrongful convictions, and that's from prosecutors and law enforcement officers. A record one hundred and eleven exonerations in twenty eighteen involved witnesses who lied on the stand or falsely accused defendants. That's one hundred and eleven exonerations in one year because of that from death row. In fifty of those cases, the defendants were falsely accused of a crime that never happened. Not only did this person not commit a crime, a crime wasn't committed. Without proper legal representation, those people will get put to death again, not just for a crime they didn't do, but for a crime that no one did. So forgive me if you hear me getting more emotional as I read this. Misconduct by police or prosecutors was involved in seventy nine percent of homicide exonerations in twenty eighteen. This data coming from a single year. Concealing evidence that cast doubt on the defendant's guilt is the most common type of misconduct, which includes police officers threatening witnesses, forensic analysis, faking test results, and prosecutors presenting false testimony the people that we trust to uphold and enforce the law. Official misconduct is more common in death penalty cases, especially if the defendant is black. Data shows that eighty seven percent of black exgneries were sentenced to death were victims of official misconduct, compared to sixty seven percent of white death row exigneries. A person doesn't have to be innocent to be wrongly sentenced to death. That is very important thing to process. The intense pressure to obtain a death sentence and the political stakes for police, prosecutors, and even judges can cause serious legal errors and contribute to wrongful convictions and death sentences. There should not be any gray area here. The number shouldn't even be one percent of people killed being innocent.

So let me go with that. First off, I'm not a fan of the death penalty, not just I just don't believe that we should live in a world where that is what we do.

So let me go with that. First off, I'm not a fan of the death penalty, not just I just don't believe that we should live in a world where that is what we do.

Someone as flawed as you and I shouldn't be able to say he deserves to be killed yes or she, thank you.

Someone as flawed as you and I shouldn't be able to say he deserves to be killed yes or she, thank you.

But what I'm most concerned about is that we'll say this and there's you know, so many people that listen to this show, and they may not be outraged. But I'll tell you what, if one out of eight airplanes crashed, they would be an outrage. Or four percent of cars rides resulted in a car crash, it would be outrage. And so I want you to keep in mind that these are human beings whose lives are being systematically exterminated. And we'll leave it right there. As always, i'd like to thank you for tuning in to Civic Cipher. I've been your host Rams's job.

But what I'm most concerned about is that we'll say this and there's you know, so many people that listen to this show, and they may not be outraged. But I'll tell you what, if one out of eight airplanes crashed, they would be an outrage. Or four percent of cars rides resulted in a car crash, it would be outrage. And so I want you to keep in mind that these are human beings whose lives are being systematically exterminated. And we'll leave it right there. As always, i'd like to thank you for tuning in to Civic Cipher. I've been your host Rams's job.

He is Rams's job. I am q Ward. Thank you again for tuning into Civic Cipher. Thank you for sharing, for commenting, for liking, for subscribing. We appreciate all of it.

He is Rams's job. I am q Ward. Thank you again for tuning into Civic Cipher. Thank you for sharing, for commenting, for liking, for subscribing. We appreciate all of it.

Yeah, if you would like to support us and you're new to the Scife life, do us a favorite. Hit civiccipher dot com. That's where you can submit questions topics you want us to cover. You can make a donation. The show grows with your donations. Of course, be sure to follow us on all social media at Civic Cipher, especially on YouTube, YouTube, dot com slash Civic Cipher and our podcast is available now so you can download this in any previous episodes. That helps us out a lot as well. And until next week, y'all, peace, peace,

Yeah, if you would like to support us and you're new to the Scife life, do us a favorite. Hit civiccipher dot com. That's where you can submit questions topics you want us to cover. You can make a donation. The show grows with your donations. Of course, be sure to follow us on all social media at Civic Cipher, especially on YouTube, YouTube, dot com slash Civic Cipher and our podcast is available now so you can download this in any previous episodes. That helps us out a lot as well. And until next week, y'all, peace, peace,