An online magazine of faith based on a free and responsible search for truth and meaning. The mission of Unitarian Universalism: A Way Of Life ministries is to provide information, teach skills, and clarify values to facilitate the evolutionary development of increasingly higher levels of spiritual development for human beings around the world.
Guy Bryant grew up in what he calls a “Kool-Aid house” in his Brooklyn, New York, neighborhood.
“Everybody on the block came and sat on our steps and if somebody had no place to go, my family was always taking them in,” Bryant told InsideEdition.com. “I think that's what this is all about.”
And by "this," Bryant means the fact that he’s fostered more than 50 teens and young adults in the past 12 years. Bryant, a single dad who has been divorced for several years, sort of stumbled upon his first foster child.
Of the 367 wrongful convictions that were exonerated since 1989 by the Innocence Project, 71% involved eyewitenss misidentification.
Supposed human memory every often is distorted and biased due to multiple factors.
Here's an interesting video dealing with the topic.
What can be done to mitigate the possibility of witness misidentification? There are many things. To learn about them, click here.
Here's part of what is stated on the Innocence project web site about police and prosecutorial reforms when it comes to using eyewitness testimony in prosecutions: How to Improve the Accuracy of Eyewitness Identifications
The Innocence Project endorses a range of procedural reforms to improve the accuracy of eyewitness identification. These reforms have been recognized by police, prosecutorial and judicial experience, as well as national justice organizations, including the National Institute of Justice and the American Bar Association. The benefits of these reforms are corroborated by over 30 years of peer-reviewed comprehensive research.
1. The “Double-blind” Procedure/Use of a Blind Administrator: A “double-blind” lineup is one in which neither the administrator nor the eyewitness knows who the suspect is. This prevents the administrator of the lineup from providing inadvertent or intentional verbal or nonverbal cues to influence the eyewitness to pick the suspect.
2. Instructions: “Instructions” are a series of statements issued by the lineup administrator to the eyewitness that deter the eyewitness from feeling compelled to make a selection. They also prevent the eyewitness from looking to the lineup administrator for feedback during the identification procedure. One of the recommended instructions includes the directive that the suspect may or may not be present in the lineup.
3. Composing the Lineup: Suspect photographs should be selected that do not bring unreasonable attention to him. Non-suspect photographs and/or live lineup members (fillers) should be selected so that the suspect does not stand out from among the other fillers. Law enforcement should select fillers using a blended approach that considers the fillers’ resemblance to the description provided by the eyewitness and their resemblance to the police suspect. (More detailed recommendations can be provided upon request by the Innocence Project.)
4. Confidence Statements: Immediately following the lineup procedure, the eyewitness should provide a statement, in his own words, that articulates the level of confidence he or she has in the identification made.
5. The Lineup Procedure Should Be Documented: Ideally, the lineup procedure should be electronically recorded. If this is impracticable, an audio or written record should be made.
Which states have implemented these reforms?
24 states have implemented the core reforms promoted by the Innocence Project either through legislation, court action, or substantial voluntary compliance. These states are:
California, Colorado, Connecticut, Georgia, Louisiana, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia and Wisconsin.
How is your state doing in instituting these reforms?
Would you and/or a group of social advocacy minded parishoners in you congregation want to study how the eyewitness testimony is obtained and used in your jurisdiction, and advocate for recommended reforms is necessary?
“Miracles are thoughts. Thoughts can represent the lower or bodily level of experience, or the higher or spiritual level of experience. One makes the physical, and the other creates the spiritual.” ACIM. T-1.1.12:1-3
At one level things in life are very simple: a person can either to walk on the path of the ego or the path of the Spirit. There are only two choices. Most of us start off walking on the path of the ego because that is chosen for us by society and how we are socialized and conditioned.
As we grow increasingly unhappy walking the path of the ego, it dawns on us that there must be a better way, and we begin a search on the path of the Spirit for truth and meaning. This search is described in our fourth principle of Unitarian Universalism when we covenant together to affirm and promote the free and responsible search for Truth and meaning. This is a search inwardly and not outwardly. It is a search to discover who we really are.
Are we born to love or to desire and pursue idols of the ego?
We are born to love because Love is what we are as an extension of God’s creative energy.
Jesus told us that the way to the kingdom is to “love as I have loved.”
A person asked Mother Teresa, “Who should I love?” Mother Teresa said, “Whomever life puts in your path.”
Be aware today, as people cross your path that your job is to join them in love. Be kind.
Of the 367 people exonerated by the Innocence Project with DNA evidence since 1989 the demographics are interesting.
Number of 367 exonerees who are Africian American? = 225 (61%)
Number of 367 exonerees who are Latinx? = 28 (8%)
Number of 367 exonerees who are white? = 110 (30%)
Are African Americans wrongfully convicted at twice the rate as whites = Yes
Unitarian Univeralists covenant together to affirm and promote justice, equity, and compassion in human relations. What can we do to rectify wrongful convictions of everyone but especially of African Americans who are over represented in the exonerees based on their race. For more click here.
In our next article we will explore some of the reasons for wrongful convictions in our U.S. criminal justice system.
Alexa: Why do I worry so much about what other people think of me?
You are focused on external things, things of the ego, and you should focus on what's within in the oceanic silence of one's heart where Love is found.
Alexa: When the religious brothers were going door to door, at one house the person who answered the door asked if he was the "Fish Friar," and laughed.
The brother laughed as well and said, "No, I'm the Chip Monk."
