All Charges Dropped Against 15 African-American Men

This story comes out of Chicago, IL -- where 15 African-American men with a total of 18 combined convictions have had their charges dropped. All of the men were convicted in 2003 to 2008 for drug crimes that they didn't commit. Former police Sgt. Ronald Watts and his team of officers allegedly planted the drugs on them and falsified police reports, according to all of the men. 

Leonard Gibson, one of the men exonerated was actually threatened by Watts if they didn't pay him a so-called "protection tax." Gibson comments, “If you’re not gonna pay Watts, you were going to jail.” And Gibson did serve 2 years in jail. He says when he was released from prison, Watts tried to put another case on him.

According to Joshua Tepfer of the Exoneration Project at the University of Chicago says that the officers target low income black men who lived in the South Side housing projects. He even said that others in command at the Chicago Police Department knew what was going on, but did nothing to stop it. 

Meanwhile, the 15 men and Tepfer all feel that justice has not been fully served. Sgt. Watts and another officer were convicted, served less than 3 years, and are now free. Even worse, as many as seven others officers were never been charged and are still working on the force.

While I am happy for these men, I am also sadden since this is nothing new and have been going on for a very long time and very few cases often makes the spotlight, leaving other innocent men and women in prison to die. This brings back what happened to Troy Davis, something I will never forget, you can read more about his case by clicking here it still makes me upset just thinking about how an innocent man was executed despite national outcry and protest all the way down to the last minute. I truly hope this trend continue to end, and please if you know someone who have been wrongly convicted and is fighting to be heard, please try contacting the Innocence Project at 212-364-5340.