In 1993 three young boys were found brutally murdered in West Memphis, Arkansas. The murders made international news, and the race to arrest the monster, or monsters, who committed such an egregious crime set law enforcement officers scrambling. Shortly after the murders, three local teens were arrested with no scientific evidence, and were later convicted of all three murders.
Two of those convicted, Jason Misskelley and James Baldwin, were sentenced to life without possibility of parole. The third teen, Damien Echols, was sentenced to death. All three professed their innocence, and finally, someone believed them. Support for the “West Memphis Three,” as they became to be known, snowballed as the case against them was picked apart by legal experts. Celebrities including Johnny Depp, Natalie Maines and Eddie Vedder helped publicize the case. And new DNA testing revealed that none of those convicted could be the killer. A hair found in the ligature around a young victims neck was deemed to have come from the boy’s step-father.
With worldwide support for the three increasing, and scientific evidence proving they were innocent, the Arkansas justice system came up with a solution to an ugly problem. The trio would be freed if they pled guilty under the Alford Doctrine which allows a person to maintain his innocence while admitting that the State has enough evidence to convict. The men took the deal, albeit reluctantly, as they wanted to be found innocent, but that would mean another trial. And so, on August 19, 2011, after 18 years of incarceration, the men were released.
Being locked up for 18 years for a crime you didn’t commit can cause some serious psychological damage, including undermining the ability to trust. Damien Echols spent ten of those years in solitary confinement, which some criminal justice experts equate with torture. The men were released, but freedom is a relative word. A person just doesn’t walk out of prison and down a primrose path.
An article in the Christian Science Monitor reported that, “According to experts, recently released prisoners have three areas of concern. They must adapt to the practical side of an unstructured world – making life decisions for the first time and learning new skills like working a smart phone. Second, community support is a must. And third, they need psychological attention to understand their experience.” Support for the “West Memphis Three” is certainly there, and although it may wane as time goes by, at this moment offers to help the trio are pouring in. While incarcerated, Echols met, and married, Lori Davis, who worked tirelessly to free him and his co-defendants. But relationships can be tricky after spending half of your life in prison. Small things like getting used to sleeping in a bed, rather than on a cot, and with sleeping another person, can take some getting used to.
Entering the “free world” after a lengthy incarceration is fraught with difficulties. A newly released person can be mentally stuck in the decade of his conviction, and it might take time to absorb all the vast changes that have been made since he was incarcerated. New technology can be mind-boggling. Crowds, colors, smells, and even daylight can overwhelm the senses. Fortunately for most individuals leaving prison, reentry programs are offered to help acclimate inmates to a world without bars -- but, not without barriers. The “West Memphis Three” had virtually no job skills before their arrests. Granted, they will be offered millions for their story, but most people coming out of prison after a lengthy stay are not so fortunate. Hopefully, the “West Memphis Three” will use their celebrity to draw attention to the need of supportive reentry programs.
The Christian Science Monitor article offers a criminal justice expert’s conclusion, “In the end, it would be a deeply personal process, dealing with the pains of an 18-year imprisonment and a perception of betrayal by the criminal justice system,” says Dr. Michael Jenkins, a professor at the University of New Haven’s Henry C. Lee College of Criminal Justice and Forensic Sciences in Connecticut.”
Opponents of the death penalty, aware of the dire consequences that Echols faced, are using his example as the reason that the death penalty should be abolished. Echols, living for 18 years on death row, is certain to be scarred by the ordeal. And every one of the men will carry through the reentry process almost two decades worth of screaming that they were innocent, only to have their words fall on deaf ears. Finding a voice is both frightening and empowering. Reentry back into their communities has been a long sought-after dream for the trio. But now that it is a reality, it is going to take an immense effort from the men and reentry experts to try to undo 18 years of confinement, solitude, anger, frustration , and fear. As daunting as the task may be, reentry organizations were created just for that reason. For many of the 700,000 Americans who are released each year, reentry will be an arduous task, but there are those who are committed to making that transition smoother.
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