Bernie Madoff, recently deposed king of the Ponzi scheme, seems to have been everywhere recently.  The latest domino to fall in the crash of his investment racket is the JEHT Foundation of Dallas.  Read about it here.

Why's that important?  It provided major financial backing to the Innocence Project of Texas.  Now it's closing its doors and when it does, those doors also close on the hopes of freedom for countless innocent prisoners held in the Texas Department of Criminal Justice.  Apparently The Innocence Project of Texas will have only enough money to complete DNA testing for Dallas County inmates.

Think about it.  You're doing a long stretch for a crime you didn't commit.  You know you're innocent but the deck is stacked against you.  Getting out looks all but impossible.  Then you hear about The Innocence Project and you read about the other guys it's sprung.  And you begin to have that rarest and most dangerous of feelings in prison - hope.

And then along comes Bernie.

(Photo courtesy of Ruby Washington and the New York Times.)

This entry was posted on Friday, December 26th, 2008 at 1:34 pm and is filed under Crime/Criminal Justice System/Police. You can trackback from your own site.