THREE SCORE AND ONE IS ENOUGH
William Heirens should be paroled.
His confession back in 1946 would be tossed out in a heartbeat if made today under the police state tactics used and allowed back then. It makes his guilt suspect, and if so he spent the last sixty-one years in prison for crimes he did not commit.
If guilty, Heirens would be a poster boy for rehabilitation of even the most heinous of criminals. Besides being the first Illinois inmate to receive a college degree behind bars, he has been a model prisoner who used his prison education to provide endless help to fellow inmates.
The grisly 1924 Illinois “thrill killer” Nathan Leopold, was paroled after only thirty-three years on the basis of his extraordinary model behavior in prison including risking his health in medical experiments that benefited medical research. Leopold took the one politic action that Heirens has declined – admitting his guilt. However, Leopold was unquestionably guilty and did not endure Heirens’ fate of being tortured to extract his confession.
Regardless of guilt or innocence, this seventy-eight wheelchair-bound diabetic is no threat to society.
As for his early release diluting the deterrent effect of a life sentence, would any would-be killer today look at Heiren’s release after sixty-one years and conclude it would make a contemplated murder worthwhile?
The Illinois Prisoner Review Board should ignore political expediency and vote to free the shell of the man who once was William Heirens.
Published in Chicago Sun Times, August 3, 2007
His confession back in 1946 would be tossed out in a heartbeat if made today under the police state tactics used and allowed back then. It makes his guilt suspect, and if so he spent the last sixty-one years in prison for crimes he did not commit.
If guilty, Heirens would be a poster boy for rehabilitation of even the most heinous of criminals. Besides being the first Illinois inmate to receive a college degree behind bars, he has been a model prisoner who used his prison education to provide endless help to fellow inmates.
The grisly 1924 Illinois “thrill killer” Nathan Leopold, was paroled after only thirty-three years on the basis of his extraordinary model behavior in prison including risking his health in medical experiments that benefited medical research. Leopold took the one politic action that Heirens has declined – admitting his guilt. However, Leopold was unquestionably guilty and did not endure Heirens’ fate of being tortured to extract his confession.
Regardless of guilt or innocence, this seventy-eight wheelchair-bound diabetic is no threat to society.
As for his early release diluting the deterrent effect of a life sentence, would any would-be killer today look at Heiren’s release after sixty-one years and conclude it would make a contemplated murder worthwhile?
The Illinois Prisoner Review Board should ignore political expediency and vote to free the shell of the man who once was William Heirens.
Published in Chicago Sun Times, August 3, 2007
posted by Walt Zlotow at 4:39 AM
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