After spending 16 years on death row, Anthony Graves, a Black man from Texas, was recently freed after prosecutors decided not to retry him. His initial conviction for the murder of six people was overturned in 2006, but he remained in prison pending the retrial.
The sole piece of evidence used to convict Graves was a confession by Robert Carter, the man responsible for the killings. Carter later partially recanted and denied Graves’ involvement, but District Attorney Charles Sebesta hid this from the defense. Even though there was no physical evidence, Anthony Graves was sentenced to death.
When asked about Graves’ release, Texas Governor Rick Perry said, “I think our system works well.” (Austin Chronicle, Nov. 5) From the perspective of the capitalist class, Perry is correct. The function of the racist criminal “justice” system is to terrorize working-class people, especially people of color, and discourage the oppressed from standing up to their oppressors.
