"Let an innocent man spend his last days at home," is Barry Scheck's commentary at the Texas Tribune's TribTalk. Here's the beginning of this must-read:
Max Soffar, an innocent man on death row in Texas, has just a few months to live.
He’s dying of liver cancer, and his last wish is to hold his wife, Anita, in his arms.
His lawyers continue to present evidence of his innocence to the courts. But a false confession Soffar signed 34 years ago, as a drug-addled and brain-damaged youth, will likely keep him locked away — unless Gov. Rick Perry intervenes.
Soffar is spending his last days locked in a cell the size of a small bathroom for 23 hours per day. His only breaks are for brief showers and recreation in a cage. Aside from the guards who shackle him and the medical staff who care for him, he has no human contact. Soffar sees his wife and others allowed to visit him but, separated from them by glass, can’t touch them. He sits on a metal stool bolted to the floor, peering through the window, straining to position his cancer-ravaged body comfortably.
Earlier coverage of Max Soffar's case begins at the link. Related posts are in the clemency and OpEd category index.
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