a hooray day

yesterday, i was more than pleased to hear that three gentlemen from Arkansas were to be released from prison. these three were featured on one of my t-shirts entitled "free the west Memphis three". every time someone would ask about the shirt at school, i would always explain their plight/situation. no matter how little time i had, i felt that it was more than important to do so, because i can't imagine a.) being falsely accused of murder and b.) being sentenced to life imprisonment/death row with no physical evidence proffered in my conviction...this,  i am sad to say, was a case of media gone wild on three juvenile kids that looked the part and got corralled in with the usual suspects...i have always felt a closeness to this case, mostly because i as a youth, could have been one of these kids....growing up in a rural town and misunderstood by virtually everyone for the music that i liked and the way that i dressed....18 years later, they are almost vindicated...i feel an astonishing amount of sorrow that to do so, that they had to plead guilty formally although allowed to maintain their innocence publicly. it was really the only way out for the state to walk away with any amount of self-respect....i still feel for those three, tho...so much of their lives have been snatched away from them and for absolutely nothing...on the headline at MSNBC, it read, "Convicted Child Murderers To Be Freed"...c'mon.....can't we just say the truth anymore......? ....be well boys, i used to think of you looking at my students knowing that easily any one of them could've swapped spots with you...enjoy what is left of your lives..