How do we honor someone whose life was committed to justice?
Nolan Finley of the Detroit News says that the best way to honor Carl Levin is to right one of the injustices Levin had invested his remaining time in. For those who have a subscription to the Detroit News, click here. For the rest of us, here is a brief summary.
Quoting Imran Syed, co-director of the Innocence Clinic at the University of Michigan,
"For the past year, Sen. Levin was very active in trying to get Kensu released. He has been calling us and his contacts at various levels of the state trying to convince anyone that the facts support Kensu's innocence."
As we've stated in the past, we're not sure you can find anyone, outside of those invested politically in this conviction not being overturned, who has looked at the evidence and concluded that Kensu is guilty. And the politically invested don't point to evidence since there is nothing that is credible. They simply state that the system found him to be guilty, which they think is good enough.
Finley goes on to explain that the present system doesn't allow for parole if the person doesn't admit their guilt. They view that as not being responsible and a person who isn't taking responsibility shouldn't be paroled. That logic works for the guilty but for the innocent, it is a "catch-22". How can you admit to something you didn't do?
Since the courts have been a dismal failure in correcting this injustice, Finley has urged governor after governor to pardon Kensu.
Finley concludes,
Carl Levin's lifelong crusade for justice settled in the end on a Michigan inmate locked away in Macomb County with his hope and health fading. The best way to honor Levin's legacy is to free Temujin Kensu.