USA TODAY Letters: As a former assistant federal defender, and one of the attorneys who argued the Simmons case (which clarified who qualifies as a felon under federal law), I am overjoyed that USA TODAY is shining a spotlight on the innocent people who remain unjustly imprisoned. But I was dismayed to read that federal prosecutors are suggesting they cannot do more to help (“Scores in N.C. are legally ‘innocent,’ yet still imprisoned“).
In fact, federal prosecutors can help set these innocent people free. The federal rules allow prosecutors to drop charges against anyone, even someone who is in prison. Prosecutors can also “waive,” that is decline to invoke, procedural rules that normally bar defendants from challenging their convictions and sentences after their direct appeals… (more)
Matthew R. Segal, legal director, ACLU Foundation of Massachusetts; Boston
