Can't we just say "All Lives Matter"?I apologize that I do not fit under the color black so when someone says " the person is black" they are not talking about me so how could this movement be talking about me? I would march to Washington in a second with everyone in the movement. It is not because I do not support the movement, it is because I just simply believe that all lives matter! It has nothing to do with color in my mind. Caucasians have been wrongly accused and sentenced to death as well as blacks. Just because the number may be smaller does not mean it doesn't count. For example, the name Martin Tankleff comes to mind.
Martin Tankleff grew up approximately 2 miles from me, in Belle Terre. In 1988 Martin was arrested for allegedly killing his parents because he was a "white spoiled rich kid". An unsigned confession from him after hours of interrogation and no sleep by a detective with "a questionable background" sealed his fate. Afterwards he was pretty much convicted by the press when they revealed a ridiculous story about how his father wouldn't let him drive his brand new Lincoln Continental to the prom. Martin allegedly threw a violent tantrum. On June 28th 1990 he was convicted and sentenced to two consecutive terms of 25 years to life . After serving 17 years in prison Martin's conviction was vacated in 2008.
According to an article published in the New York Times in 1980 a report by the Suffolk County Bar Association found sufficient evidence that there was a serious problem with police brutality in Suffolk County. The appellate courts struck down 10 convictions because confessions were improperly obtained. None of the defendants were black.
A coerced confession can happen to anyone. If police are pressured to solve a crime by the media and by One Police Plaza police will put the pressure on a suspect to confess. If someone is told they cannot leave the police station and they have been deprived of sleep and food, just about anyone might be coerced into making a confession. Netflix has two great documentaries about similar stories: Death Row Stories and "Making of a Murderer" In "Death Row Stories" 6 out of the 8 people who were wrongly convicted are white and Steve Avery in "Making of a Murderer' is white.
