Resurfacing for a moment

[cleolinda]

At the risk of making y'all wonder why this is such a big deal, I have collected a number of links about the West Memphis Three. In case you missed it (and you easily could have, because it came out of nowhere), on Thursday night, this appeared on Twitter:

@wm3org: West Memphis Three leave prison with all belongings; source says they are not

Comments

[misachan]

I teared up at work as the twitter developments kept pouring in. It's just astonishing.

[evewithanapple]

On the witness stand, he testifies that he beat his stepson with a belt at 5:30 p.m. on the day of his death. The welts from the belt buckle previously had been linked to the ritual killing.

And he wasn't ever prosecuted for that? Not even the abuse? I mean, I know fundie communities have a "spare the rod" approach that's led to child deaths before (who knows, maybe that's what happened here) but- nobody thought to charge him for beating a child with a belt buckle?

[cleolinda]

Seriously! If you read deeper into the background material, prior sexual abuse of two of the boys was suspected before they were even killed. HEY LET'S GO ARREST THE KIDS WHO LIKE THE HEAVY METAL.

[evewithanapple]

So there's evidence against two of the stepfathers, evidence of prior sexual abuse, the profile fits one of stepdads, some one who doesn't match the description of anyone involved, and virtually no evidence ties the Three to the crime- but STEPHEN KING! WHARGARBL!

[azzinita]

There's also the aspect of Satanic Panic involved. I went to a catholic school during the mid-nineties, when there was a LOT of satanic panic going around, and we had entire classes structured around satanists, what they do, and what we should do if we encountered them. We specifically had to look out for teenagers wearing black, talked about satanism or paganism and who listened to heavy metal. I am not even kidding.

I remember very specifically the "story" of a boy who was studying satanism for a school report and wound up killing his mother and setting his house on fire in a ritual. So even just reading about it was ~*very dangerous*~.

This mindset is ludicrous now, but back then, it was a Big Deal, and for very low-class, somewhat uneducated and extremely religious people, this was a very legitimate thing.

[msfledermaus]

Thanks so much for the links...I'm just so appalled it took so long to see some kind of justice, no matter how half-assed.

[spectralbovine]

Thanks for this. I kept hearing about this but had no idea what it was about. I had no idea it was about Satanism! I assumed it was about racism.

[queenthesixth]

I knew nothing about this case until the other day when mentions of the men being freed started appearing on Twitter. It's like the Guilford Four and Maguire Seven all over again with the authorities insisting on someone's guilt despite the evidence.

This kind of thing makes me seriously sick to my stomach. And how does someone get used to being around people again after solitary confinement and the threat of execution for so long? I hope they have a good solid support system that stays when all the media interest dies down.

Thanks for the links and info.

[cleolinda]

Yeah. Think of it this way: these guys haven't slept in real beds in 18 years. How do you adjust from that?

[kelaina]

Also: One of those dudes was in SOLITARY CONFINEMENT FOR TEN YEARS.

How do you even remember how to act around other human beings? It's like that novel by Heinlein about the human who grew up on Mars. It's just as insane, and honestly, all three are going to need MAJOR MAJOR THERAPY.

[mirhanda]

I just hope that those who have been helping them financially with the defense will continue to help them until they get their lives settled. I can't even imagine how hard it's going to be for them!