Thank you to Clive Stafford Smith for taking part in this episode. To find out more about his work supporting the next generation of human rights advocates, please visit: justiceleague.org.uk
:( - Do you also support freedom of speech...guess not given my comment you removed. Well, should Clive Stafford's close family members ever fall victim to a heinous crime, I'm sure his humanity for the death penalty would suddenly disappear.
@@outogetyougotyou5250 Innocent people being murdered by a failing system funded by taxpayer money IS a heinous crime! One that we (and many countries have already) can prevent! This is what Clive's trying to get across in the video.
@@outogetyougotyou5250 it's said that disagreeing with American Rebuplican politics and the justice system is the first step on the path to enlightenment. I don't mean to joke about such a thing...well I do actually... but surely you can see that such opposition to forgiveness from a country that leans on religion and "gahhhd saving Amerrrrka" is painfully ironic? Clive isn't abolishing punishment, just the death penalty, and given his statistics regarding innocent people being killed and exonerated, I would think that the main priority for any victims' family would be to ensure beyond ANY MEASURE of doubt, that the right person is convicted. Preferably before anyone innocent is electrocuted, injected or gassed to death.
I’m sure convicted serial killer Gary Ridgeway needs a friend - with whom he can discuss how he murdered 49 sex workers over an approx 18 year period…..
A man should be judged by people who he keeps close. Ironic calling supreme justices fascist and then fraternising with rapists and murderers. Practically none of those people were actually innocent as he himself admits, ita just likely 13% didnt commit that exact crime
Unbelievable, you people are saps and the criminals using people like him see them coming from miles away. A persons worst 15 minutes don’t just happen, they are the culmination of a lifetime of bad decisions.
Please can we stop idolising actors and pop stars and start giving people like this man the credit they deserve. A literal hero of the people. I wonder what the world would be like if we all realised that everyone was better than their worst 15minutes. Man crushing big time. Edit: Just to add, that people who get offered places to study science at Cambridge usually go one of three ways: Rocket scientist, banking, or are hoovered up by a form of corporate law. They dont set about saving lives of convicted criminals and representing the "unrepresentable". Even more reason to revere this chap.
15 mins that forever changed the lives of the victims family, and all the years of financial and emotional investment, wiped out in an instant. Singaporean with the capital punishment and proud of it. Humans by nature are creatures of conflict, and the carrot does not work for all situations
@briarshard2871 I have no answers for the world, but a system whereby punishment for child rape is 20yrs and being caught with half a key of Weed is punishable by death, as Singapores is, is not only antiquated but actually scary.
The first lawyer I've ever liked and respected. Completely correct about how the government and court systems are corrupt and constructed purposely so.
@fliss1304 against the death penalty. There's a case to be made for AND against it. Against case: possibility of an innocent person being executed. the racial imbalance on death row that exists in the US. the fact that in some cases judges don't have discretion over it's application. There may be mitigating circumstances underpinning the crime they were convicted of. For Case: Dennis Rader (BTK). Arthur Shawcross (Genessee River Killer). Gary Ridgeway (Green River Killer). Jeffrey Dahmer. Guys who CAN'T be released EVER. There's better uses for the $ spent keeping them alive in prison.
@@colleenmonfross4283 Do tell us what "clear agenda" one has against a barbaric establishment like Gitmo. Tell us how suggesting innocent people are being detained left and right is really just a lie, as if it's not patently true through the dysfunctionalities of the jusitce system domestically, even without involving colossal mistakes like "The Patriotic Act" and The War on Terror and all that. Not gonna lie. I'm always glad there's a huge ocean between Europe and North America. Y'all are special over there.
@ Yes, I understand. That’s an Old Testament view though. An eye for an eye. It’s true that to stop capital punishment, the that idea of justice is compromised, but I believe it’s better to compromise.
This. It is so hard to change your opinion even in the face of evidence, and I am guilty of this myself at times, so your doing this is quite a feat. I wish more people would be like you! Have a great day!
@@robo_coball it took for me to change my position on the death penalty was seeing those horrible videos on LiveLeak over a decade ago of people getting executed, and I didn't want to have anything to do with supporting the death penalty anymore.
Would it make any difference if they condemned the death penalty but defended abortion? Is there not a difference between an adult who murders someone and an unborn baby human?
@@raukawa4732 they should either condemn both or support both I vote support both as the abortion issue has no place in the political arena. We don’t debate any other medical issues.
@@raukawa4732 Yes, the difference is fundamental as one refers to the generation of fear and other tortures, whereas the other refers to the mere cessation of life potential. If you can't see the difference then you've likely never suffered nor have a functional ethical or psychological framework.
I started to watch this one knowing I wasn't going to like this man and that I was going to disagree with what he did. By the end, he had my complete attention. I could listen to him for hours and he has totally changed my viewpoint. Men like this can change the world.
Same here. Exactly the same with me. I didn't want to watch at first. But getting over 700 out of G bay says something. Maybe they are not all saints, but F it, in the west, we are not barbarians stuck in the medieval society.
I too was expecting to listen and disagree with him. I commend him on trying to improve the world. You can tell he’s a good, moral man with intelligence and purpose. He shifted my thinking
Edward Earl Johnson was a man convicted in 1979 at the age of 18 and subsequently executed by the U.S. state of Mississippi for the murder of a policeman, J.T. Trest, and the sexual assault of a 69-year-old woman, Sally Franklin. Throughout his eight years on death row, he continued to plead his innocence. Johnson was executed by gas chamber. His case came to international attention when he was featured in the BBC documentary Fourteen Days in May. Broadcast in 1987, the documentary showed the last two weeks of Johnson's life. It starts on May 6, the day that Johnson learns the date of his execution. During interviews, Johnson said that his confession was forced by police in a deserted wood while they were threatening to shoot him. Throughout the documentary he also raised the point of the sexual assault victim saying during the police lineup that he was not the man who raped her and pointed to another individual. In the time since execution occurred, Johnson's lawyers located a woman who claimed to have an alibi for Johnson, being with him during the time of the crime. She volunteered her testimony at the courthouse but was supposedly told to "go home and mind her own business".
I'm glad someone mentioned this, that his case is known to more than the few. What a poor, poor, lovely man he was. The fact that the film "14 days in May" is banned in the U.S, and the prison warden tasked with, and responsible for his death is now very, very, very anti-death penalty. He now sees himself as a victim!!???? The jury who convicted and the judge who sentenced Johnson are ENTIRELY at fault, and that he was nothing more than the puppet who carried out their instructions. The Nazis said something very similar, I think
Having compassion for someone who has not shown that same compassion to others is truly admirable. The best argument Clive made was that the death penalty doesn’t add any good to this world. Clive, I’m curious whether you find it easier or harder to extend compassion to those you represent who have committed the crimes of which they are convicted and led to death row or to those in the justice system responsible for the continuation of the death penalty?
An expensive lawyer can change a death penalty to life in prison, or maybe even less. This means that rich boys walk and poor boys hang. For this reason alone, execution is wrong.
I love, LOVE this man. His thoughts 100% reflect my own, which is not something I come across a lot. I have a pen pal who is on death row, so this really touched me.
Clive's 1980's documentary '14 days in May' really moved me to be totally against the death penalty. I can't watch that doc without crying, knowing an innocent young man was put to death 😢
I watched the documentary about Earl Johnson when I was 15 in RE class at school and it made a huge impression on me, I was so upset to find out that they had killed him. 😢
Fourteen Days In May. I was 17 when it was first broadcast in 1987. It was harrowing to watch the whole process. And to find out Earl was innocent? Horrible.
He is an amazing man, he come from a family in the UK that has a history of being very special. His aunt began the school I went to in the UK which was a liberal and forward thinking place.
Fully respect everything this man stands for, but also wanna show some respect for the interviewer!! This seemed like a tricky one. They did amazingly well.
He was on a death row programme I will never forget.He sat with a prisonor until he executed.The prisonor was later to be found innocent.At the news conference after the execution he said I may look calm but I'm not.Its a cruel world.
This guys much smarter than a lot of Cambridge academics I guarantee you. Those academics are the same creed who end up as the lunatic judges. Cambridge is a very sheltered closed institution. I work in FE in the UK and we send X amount of our kids off to oxbridge
Cambridge has its council estates , and slang that gets copied from London , it’s not all posh and rainbows in cambs, very multicultural aswell , all the top university students sound like that , that’s true
So, I used to believe in the death penalty as a ‘knee jerk reaction’ to heinous crimes. Now, I am absolutely against it. The reasons being: no-one has the right to take another life. Execution makes the executioner a murderer. The executioner is acting in cold blood, not in self defence or in war. If he or she does not have a conscience about it, then there is something really wrong with them as a human being. Some people who have been executed, have been found to be innocent after execution. Execution is not necessarily less expensive than imprisonment for many years. To me, a huge punishment for a serial killer or a child molester is to prevent them from doing what they want to do……imagine being locked up and not be able to do what you want ! Why does the USA prevent abortion, but not the killling of adults who may or may not be innocent? Why should they be allowed to take one life but spare others? Bizarre….
My brother was murdered I don't believe in the death penalty Because a mistake can always be made and an innocent man could die or woman I shall not kill One of the 10 commandments
The moment I heard zyclon B I felt like my heart just dropped to my stomach, I lost family members to Zyclon B in the camps and knowing that he was innocent is horrific!
@@lu544 “And so, it comes to pass in time, that the earth ceases for us to be a weltering chaos. We walk in the great hall of life, looking up and round reverentially. Nothing is despicable - all is meaningful; nothing is small - all is part of a whole, whose beginning and end we know not. The life that throbs in us is a pulsation from it; too mighty for our comprehension, no too small. And so, it comes to pass at last, that whereas the sky was at first a small blue rag stretched out over us and so low that our hands might touch it, pressing down on us, it raises itself into an immeasurable blue arch over our heads, and we begin to live again.” Compassion is a precious and transformative thing, for those who receive it and for those who give it freely. I hope that someday you will begin to live again.
Just started watching this so not sure if he mentions it but I watched his documentary about James Earl Johnson I think his name was. Was on death row and was one of the most heartbreaking stories I’ve seen . It’s a hard watch. Sorry his name was Edward Earl Johnson and the documentary is 14 Days In May.
Noble man fighting for a Noble cause. I agree I think to an extent it is inhumane, feels like such a medieval way for such a modern world. There has to be a better solution.
Because "reputable" drug companies won't sell drugs for euthanasia. So the executioners are forced to buy from sketchy companies, whose controls are lax. It's terrible.
Its quite funny this lawyer confuses two things While people are in prison- he considers them to be potentially innocent. But when they are released- he refers to them as innocent (rather than found innocent). He then cites how inaccurate the legal system is. 98% of guantamino released doesnt mean 98% are innocent. It just means they dont have sufficient proof. Hes a very kind man. I wonder how he would respond if his family were victims of those he represented ?
"Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends." J.R.R Tolkien thru Gandalf.
Clive Stafford Smith… excellent lawyer and person! I have a lot of respect for him. Especially after Edward Earl Johnson’s execution. He was so blunt and direct about what the family thought. It was fantastic to see someone challenging the system like he did! He should be awarded an MBE at least?
The profession of human rights lawyer has taken a beating with the likes of Starmer being one, but this guy is what I had hoped for in a human rights lawyer.
While this didn't change my stance on the death penalty, it did remind me how shitty the American legal system is. If the system actually cared about justice and not money or power then there would be way fewer innocent folks caught up to begin with. The corrupt broken system leads to innocents being convicted or the guilty getting to walk.
It's easy to be friends with those people from the comfort of them being locked up and knowing they'll die. Would he have made friends with them in the real world though? Or if it was his daughter/father/ loved one they murdered or raped?
You have to respect the man’s passion and drive. That said, it’s difficult to take him seriously when he’s so blatantly gullible and/or naive to believe “Well the man’s obviously innocent because he said so.”
I think you need to get familiar with british humor. Obviously someones word won't be the end all be all, but it's a better starting point than with the dude that says "Yeah I killed him, and I'd do it again!"
It starts with the person saying they are innocent _until the moment they die_. If they say it until the end, they either did it and want to convince someone (sometimes themselves), or they are truly innocent and want people to figure out the truth. Then they investigate to see if the person was truly innocent, and to spread their story. Since killing an innocent person is wrong.
For those innocent people who have been wrongfully put to death, it is wrong but those who have committed a sick, pre-meditated murder to a child or someone innocent that didn’t have any connection to their killer- could you look those genuine victims in the eyes or their family and tell them the death sentence is wrong? Genuinely curious on the take on this- not hating
Sometimes listening to people talk it’s like they can’t comprehend that the state would or could get it wrong. It’s like they don’t want to believe it or the thought is too upsetting for them. I find that fascinating.
I empathise with this guy, he is obviously a good man who cares for people and always tries to find the best in them. On the other hand, he is biased because of the personal contact. The people he represents are murderers, rapists, liars, generally people who can never walk on the street. They chose their path and they received consequences. Overall, I wish nothing but the best for him ~
Many of us, and I imagine this guy, still think the death penalty is a fate that even the worst people alive don't deserve for several reasons, remember that!
Sorry but you clearly didn't watch the whole video before commenting this. He states very clearly that in some places over half the people who go on death row are innocent. And even those who aren't, it's not like he's releasing them "on the streets", he just doesn't think that doing to these people the same thing they did to others is gonna bring society any good.
Its your own bias to believe that just because people did terrible things that you can torture them, yes torture not humanely killed from electrocution. But on the other hand, some innocent people get killed anyway. So you really feel a few innocent people's time and life being unfairly prosecuted is worth making sure horrible people don't exist? It seems you didn't spend that much time thinking about it.
@@soonlet4977 I actually spend a lot of time thinking about this issue. No justice is perfect and never will be. Just because people slip through the cracks or people get wrongfully sentenced doesn't mean we should stop enforcing the law and its punishments. He will tell you that half of these people are innocent. Based on what? It's based on their words, nothing else. If they had a proof, I'm sure he would immediately defend them and got them out of the death row. Some people deserve the punishment, it's ok if you disagree.
One thing about human behaviour we don't become so attached to someone who has committed a crime upon s victim we never knew. If this guy had his wife and children butchered and no reason for the motive. Then you feel it.personaly
Krishna Nanan Maharaj was a British Trinidadian businessman. In 1987 he was convicted by a Florida, U.S., court of the double murders of Chinese Jamaican businessmen Derrick Moo Young and his adult son Duane Moo Young, and was sentenced to death. Maharaj always denied committing the murders, and according to the human rights organisation Reprieve, the case of Krishna Maharaj was "an epic miscarriage of justice". On 13 September 2019, Federal Magistrate Judge Alicia M. Otazo-Reyes made a legal finding that Maharaj had proven his innocence by "clear and convincing evidence" and that "no reasonable juror could convict him", but ruled that this was not sufficient for Maharaj to be set free On 4 April 2017, the US 11th Circuit Court of Appeals granted a hearing based on evidence pointing to the involvement of Pablo Escobar's Medellín Cartel in the killings of which Maharaj had been convicted. The court said that the additional witnesses had presented "compelling" accounts that "independently corroborate one another's" and that "five individuals' stories reflect that the Moo Youngs were killed by the cartel."
What is your point? That some people do evil heinous crimes. Aren’t you capable of nuanced discussion/debate ? Ps I don’t agree with his political rant at the end.
@@thesatisfiedcustomer4869Yes but the point is Kris didn’t commit the crime?? He spent decades in prison for something he was proven of being not being guilty for??
At approximately 6:30 pm, nicholas Ingram entered the Cobb County home of J.C. and Mary Sawyer, demanding that they let him use their phone and later demanding money and the keys to the couple's car, threatening to shoot them if they did not cooperate with him. Mary Sawyer gave Ingram $60, while J.C. Sawyer surrendered the keys to his pickup truck. Ingram then led the couple outside and into the woods surrounding their home. He tied their hands behind them and bound them to a tree using rope and wire. The Sawyers begged Ingram not to kill them while Ingram taunted and threatened them; he ultimately gagged them with his shirt after tearing it in two and stuffing each half into each victim's mouth. He then shot them both in the head at point-blank range. The shots were fatal to J.C. Sawyer, but Mrs. Sawyer survived. She played dead until she heard Ingram drive off with J.C. Sawyer's truck. After confirming that her husband was dead, Mary Sawyer untied herself and went to a neighbor's house to call the police.
I went into this with contempt for him but hearing the stories of all these innocent people, I really did start to like the guy and what he's done for all the people he exonerated.
To the question of whether the US will abolish the death penalty, as with most people, they dont understand its a STATEs decision. NOT the Federal governments.
The Supreme Court are a branch of the Federal Govt, and they struck the DP down once they can do it again. Having said that they are also a branch of the MAGA Party.
You could make an 8th amendment argument under the cruel and unusual punishment clause, but, until the supreme court turns blue, and this will take a while unfortunately, any case like this would be struck down.
@@robo_cob And its going to be a very long time until, if and ever the SCOTUS turns blue. America is disgusted with Blue and if Harris slithers into office, the revulsion will be squared
Thank you to Clive Stafford Smith for taking part in this episode. To find out more about his work supporting the next generation of human rights advocates, please visit: justiceleague.org.uk
:( - Do you also support freedom of speech...guess not given my comment you removed. Well, should Clive Stafford's close family members ever fall victim to a heinous crime, I'm sure his humanity for the death penalty would suddenly disappear.
@@outogetyougotyou5250 Not everyone is as hateful as you are. Are you also a MAGA?
@@outogetyougotyou5250 Innocent people being murdered by a failing system funded by taxpayer money IS a heinous crime! One that we (and many countries have already) can prevent! This is what Clive's trying to get across in the video.
@@stephaniechia6338 Well for now. it seems majority of the American people disagree.
@@outogetyougotyou5250 it's said that disagreeing with American Rebuplican politics and the justice system is the first step on the path to enlightenment. I don't mean to joke about such a thing...well I do actually... but surely you can see that such opposition to forgiveness from a country that leans on religion and "gahhhd saving Amerrrrka" is painfully ironic? Clive isn't abolishing punishment, just the death penalty, and given his statistics regarding innocent people being killed and exonerated, I would think that the main priority for any victims' family would be to ensure beyond ANY MEASURE of doubt, that the right person is convicted. Preferably before anyone innocent is electrocuted, injected or gassed to death.
A friend in a friendless world is truly something to be proud of. A light in the darkness.
I’m sure convicted serial killer Gary Ridgeway needs a friend - with whom he can discuss how he murdered 49 sex workers over an approx 18 year period…..
A man should be judged by people who he keeps close. Ironic calling supreme justices fascist and then fraternising with rapists and murderers. Practically none of those people were actually innocent as he himself admits, ita just likely 13% didnt commit that exact crime
What an intelligent, eloquent and - above all - lovely human being👏
Agree the level of compassion and intelligence is beautiful. Glad these people are out there...❤
So lovely defending the most vile people on the planet
Unbelievable, you people are saps and the criminals using people like him see them coming from miles away. A persons worst 15 minutes don’t just happen, they are the culmination of a lifetime of bad decisions.
I don't like him at all. He's probably a psycho himself
Please can we stop idolising actors and pop stars and start giving people like this man the credit they deserve. A literal hero of the people. I wonder what the world would be like if we all realised that everyone was better than their worst 15minutes. Man crushing big time.
Edit: Just to add, that people who get offered places to study science at Cambridge usually go one of three ways: Rocket scientist, banking, or are hoovered up by a form of corporate law. They dont set about saving lives of convicted criminals and representing the "unrepresentable". Even more reason to revere this chap.
Thank you for this wonderful comment!! You are soooo right💚
15 mins that forever changed the lives of the victims family, and all the years of financial and emotional investment, wiped out in an instant. Singaporean with the capital punishment and proud of it. Humans by nature are creatures of conflict, and the carrot does not work for all situations
@@briarshard2871 Singapore is stuck in the middle ages.
@briarshard2871 I have no answers for the world, but a system whereby punishment for child rape is 20yrs and being caught with half a key of Weed is punishable by death, as Singapores is, is not only antiquated but actually scary.
@@Simstone2024there's obviously some middle ground
What a special guy. If only there were more people like him. Well done Clive. You're an inspiration.
The first lawyer I've ever liked and respected. Completely correct about how the government and court systems are corrupt and constructed purposely so.
Who dont like lawyers they stop you going jail 😂
@@TaylorzWorld1 unless they have a better one 😅
The 14 year old kid getting held in Guantanamo Bay for telling them where to get tomatoes is just peak American idiocy.
That's assuming what he said is true. I don't believe anything he said. He has a clear agenda and truth is not involved.
@@colleenmonfross4283what a clear agenda against Guantanamo?
@fliss1304 against the death penalty.
There's a case to be made for AND against it.
Against case: possibility of an innocent person being executed.
the racial imbalance on death row that exists in the US.
the fact that in some cases judges don't have discretion over it's
application. There may be mitigating circumstances underpinning
the crime they were convicted of.
For Case: Dennis Rader (BTK). Arthur Shawcross (Genessee River Killer). Gary Ridgeway (Green River Killer). Jeffrey Dahmer. Guys who CAN'T be released EVER. There's better uses for the $ spent keeping them alive in prison.
@colleenmonfross4283 maybe his world view is based on the stories he has to tell, rather than the other way around as you suggest
@@colleenmonfross4283 Do tell us what "clear agenda" one has against a barbaric establishment like Gitmo. Tell us how suggesting innocent people are being detained left and right is really just a lie, as if it's not patently true through the dysfunctionalities of the jusitce system domestically, even without involving colossal mistakes like "The Patriotic Act" and The War on Terror and all that.
Not gonna lie. I'm always glad there's a huge ocean between Europe and North America. Y'all are special over there.
“We are all better than our worst 15 minutes.” So powerful.
some people aren't
I think that’s true and why I’m against the death penalty. US is Old Testament and it still is because many people see it that way.
@@benbunyip has nothing to do with religion for me, that is my morals that say you forfeit your right to live if you take someone else's.
@ Yes, I understand. That’s an Old Testament view though. An eye for an eye. It’s true that to stop capital punishment, the that idea of justice is compromised, but I believe it’s better to compromise.
Lots of people are not.
the levels of humility in this man are that of which I could only ever aspire to emulate
Well...i have to stand corrected on some of my ideas. Informative.
This. It is so hard to change your opinion even in the face of evidence, and I am guilty of this myself at times, so your doing this is quite a feat. I wish more people would be like you! Have a great day!
@@robo_coball it took for me to change my position on the death penalty was seeing those horrible videos on LiveLeak over a decade ago of people getting executed, and I didn't want to have anything to do with supporting the death penalty anymore.
I had to reassess my beliefs on this subject as well. I am now firmly against the death penalty. Just too many mistakes are made.
This is the most powerful comment here!
“Listen to the pope about abortion but not the death penalty“ 👏
Exactly. Only when it serves their agenda. It's not about truth. It's about power and control
???
Would it make any difference if they condemned the death penalty but defended abortion? Is there not a difference between an adult who murders someone and an unborn baby human?
@@raukawa4732 they should either condemn both or support both I vote support both as the abortion issue has no place in the political arena. We don’t debate any other medical issues.
@@raukawa4732 Yes, the difference is fundamental as one refers to the generation of fear and other tortures, whereas the other refers to the mere cessation of life potential. If you can't see the difference then you've likely never suffered nor have a functional ethical or psychological framework.
I started to watch this one knowing I wasn't going to like this man and that I was going to disagree with what he did.
By the end, he had my complete attention. I could listen to him for hours and he has totally changed my viewpoint.
Men like this can change the world.
Same here. Exactly the same with me. I didn't want to watch at first. But getting over 700 out of G bay says something. Maybe they are not all saints, but F it, in the west, we are not barbarians stuck in the medieval society.
He was invited to visit our school when I was a teenager and he was so thoughtful, kind and interested in what we were doing. Such a man of integrity.
"He would have got life, but he shouldn't have got death"
Powerful.
Powerful on tax payers pockets too 👀
@@braddo7270common american mindset you have, profit over people? profit over a HUMAN life?? just sad.
@@rebeccaroba9299 I'm not American... 👀 this is awkward.
@@rebeccaroba9299tell that to the victims
@braddo7270 you do have an American mindset tho.. embarrassing
I too was expecting to listen and disagree with him. I commend him on trying to improve the world. You can tell he’s a good, moral man with intelligence and purpose. He shifted my thinking
Edward Earl Johnson was a man convicted in 1979 at the age of 18 and subsequently executed by the U.S. state of Mississippi for the murder of a policeman, J.T. Trest, and the sexual assault of a 69-year-old woman, Sally Franklin. Throughout his eight years on death row, he continued to plead his innocence. Johnson was executed by gas chamber.
His case came to international attention when he was featured in the BBC documentary Fourteen Days in May. Broadcast in 1987, the documentary showed the last two weeks of Johnson's life. It starts on May 6, the day that Johnson learns the date of his execution. During interviews, Johnson said that his confession was forced by police in a deserted wood while they were threatening to shoot him.
Throughout the documentary he also raised the point of the sexual assault victim saying during the police lineup that he was not the man who raped her and pointed to another individual.
In the time since execution occurred, Johnson's lawyers located a woman who claimed to have an alibi for Johnson, being with him during the time of the crime. She volunteered her testimony at the courthouse but was supposedly told to "go home and mind her own business".
I remember that documentary to this day & it brings a tear to my eye😢
Was he later declared as innocent by the court or some legal institution?
Also was the actual person who did this was caught?
@xyz2371 highly unlikely that the real perpetrator was/will ever be apprehended after having the wrong guy for such a long time
I'm glad someone mentioned this, that his case is known to more than the few. What a poor, poor, lovely man he was. The fact that the film "14 days in May" is banned in the U.S, and the prison warden tasked with, and responsible for his death is now very, very, very anti-death penalty. He now sees himself as a victim!!???? The jury who convicted and the judge who sentenced Johnson are ENTIRELY at fault, and that he was nothing more than the puppet who carried out their instructions. The Nazis said something very similar, I think
I'm going to guess the vast majority are guilty though.
Having compassion for someone who has not shown that same compassion to others is truly admirable. The best argument Clive made was that the death penalty doesn’t add any good to this world. Clive, I’m curious whether you find it easier or harder to extend compassion to those you represent who have committed the crimes of which they are convicted and led to death row or to those in the justice system responsible for the continuation of the death penalty?
This dude might be single-handedly the wisest, most grounded human I have ever seen
He’s got 2 hands, mate
An expensive lawyer can change a death penalty to life in prison, or maybe even less. This means that rich boys walk and poor boys hang. For this reason alone, execution is wrong.
I love, LOVE this man. His thoughts 100% reflect my own, which is not something I come across a lot. I have a pen pal who is on death row, so this really touched me.
Wow what a man, particularly powerful was his answer to proudest moment in his life and how humbling the answer was.
Incredible incredible human, using his heart and his head for the highest good. Absolutely humbling.
Clive's 1980's documentary '14 days in May' really moved me to be totally against the death penalty. I can't watch that doc without crying, knowing an innocent young man was put to death 😢
Oh yh brilliant documentary watched it like 10 15 years ago never forgot the name
Agreed superb
Yes I was already against death penalty but this doco cemented my belief !
I watched the documentary about Earl Johnson when I was 15 in RE class at school and it made a huge impression on me, I was so upset to find out that they had killed him. 😢
Fourteen Days In May. I was 17 when it was first broadcast in 1987. It was harrowing to watch the whole process. And to find out Earl was innocent? Horrible.
My eyes almost popped when you said zyclon-b... no explanation needed...
I know. Basically they were inspired the Nazies.
He is an amazing man, he come from a family in the UK that has a history of being very special. His aunt began the school I went to in the UK which was a liberal and forward thinking place.
Fully respect everything this man stands for, but also wanna show some respect for the interviewer!! This seemed like a tricky one. They did amazingly well.
He was on a death row programme I will never forget.He sat with a prisonor until he executed.The prisonor was later to be found innocent.At the news conference after the execution he said I may look calm but I'm not.Its a cruel world.
I watched the same thing it was heart breaking
Good interviewing, asking the questions we all want to ask!!
The best content on UA-cam! Thank you LADBibel TV!!
That is exactly how I imagine every professor at Cambridge sounds.
This guys much smarter than a lot of Cambridge academics I guarantee you. Those academics are the same creed who end up as the lunatic judges. Cambridge is a very sheltered closed institution. I work in FE in the UK and we send X amount of our kids off to oxbridge
Cambridge has its council estates , and slang that gets copied from London , it’s not all posh and rainbows in cambs, very multicultural aswell , all the top university students sound like that , that’s true
What a great video. This man is truly doing good in this world.
I read his book about Guantanamo whilst on holiday. Would reccomend it 100%
Thank you Clive - You are an absolute good
What a deeply human, humorous, man who brings grace to the world.
I need this man’s level of self control. How he can deal with so much evil without letting it make him mad is so admirable
So, I used to believe in the death penalty as a ‘knee jerk reaction’ to heinous crimes. Now, I am absolutely against it. The reasons being: no-one has the right to take another life. Execution makes the executioner a murderer. The executioner is acting in cold blood, not in self defence or in war. If he or she does not have a conscience about it, then there is something really wrong with them as a human being. Some people who have been executed, have been found to be innocent after execution. Execution is not necessarily less expensive than imprisonment for many years. To me, a huge punishment for a serial killer or a child molester is to prevent them from doing what they want to do……imagine being locked up and not be able to do what you want !
Why does the USA prevent abortion, but not the killling of adults who may or may not be innocent? Why should they be allowed to take one life but spare others? Bizarre….
Don't be an idiot. It's always murder then. Stop being a hypocrite. War and self defense are also murder
My brother was murdered I don't believe in the death penalty Because a mistake can always be made and an innocent man could die or woman I shall not kill One of the 10 commandments
14 Days in May will live with me forever
I recently watched it again with my daughter who has graduated in Law
Heartbreaking
What an amazing man. What an instrument of social justice. Much to be learnt from him.
The moment I heard zyclon B I felt like my heart just dropped to my stomach, I lost family members to Zyclon B in the camps and knowing that he was innocent is horrific!
We love decency . Thank you
You love killers?
@@lu544 what a totally ridiculous thing to say . Your tenuousness will trip you up
@@lu544they should be given compassion as human beings, not “for their crimes”
@@Liz-kj2jj Hard pass, that doesn't make them special to deserve any of that.
@@lu544 “And so, it comes to pass in time, that the earth ceases for us to be a weltering chaos. We walk in the great hall of life, looking up and round reverentially. Nothing is despicable - all is meaningful; nothing is small - all is part of a whole, whose beginning and end we know not. The life that throbs in us is a pulsation from it; too mighty for our comprehension, no too small.
And so, it comes to pass at last, that whereas the sky was at first a small blue rag stretched out over us and so low that our hands might touch it, pressing down on us, it raises itself into an immeasurable blue arch over our heads, and we begin to live again.”
Compassion is a precious and transformative thing, for those who receive it and for those who give it freely. I hope that someday you will begin to live again.
Just started watching this so not sure if he mentions it but I watched his documentary about James Earl Johnson I think his name was. Was on death row and was one of the most heartbreaking stories I’ve seen . It’s a hard watch.
Sorry his name was Edward Earl Johnson and the documentary is 14 Days In May.
Remember that documentary too. That's the reason I oppose the death penalty.
Guessing you had James Earl Jones in your head hahaha
Darth Vader did plenty wrong but his actor didnt 😂
@@987jof yeah I think I did 🤦🏻
I could listen to this man talk for hours, wow!
Noble man fighting for a Noble cause. I agree I think to an extent it is inhumane, feels like such a medieval way for such a modern world. There has to be a better solution.
There is a better solution, every other civilised country in the world already follows it.
I love this man for calling out the Supreme Court
The world needs more people like Clive
An extraordinary story. An extraordinary man. I leave wiser than I came.
How do we have elective euthanasia in some countries and at veterinary practices that happens peacefully but so many executions go so wrong
Because it's harder for people to not care about animals the same way we dehumanize one another
Because the companies that make euthanasia drugs won’t allow them to be used in executions.
John Oliver does a great episode on this if you're interested...
Because there are no hard feelings and biases there and a doctor does them.
Because "reputable" drug companies won't sell drugs for euthanasia. So the executioners are forced to buy from sketchy companies, whose controls are lax. It's terrible.
I really was fascinated listening to this man. Such interesting insights.
Its quite funny this lawyer confuses two things
While people are in prison- he considers them to be potentially innocent.
But when they are released- he refers to them as innocent (rather than found innocent).
He then cites how inaccurate the legal system is.
98% of guantamino released doesnt mean 98% are innocent. It just means they dont have sufficient proof.
Hes a very kind man. I wonder how he would respond if his family were victims of those he represented ?
"Many that live deserve death. And some that die deserve life. Can you give it to them? Then do not be too eager to deal out death in judgement. For even the very wise cannot see all ends." J.R.R Tolkien thru Gandalf.
I mean yea he was a huge catholic.
This was really insightful 👍🏿 I've learnt a lot from his ways of reasoning 🙏🏿
Best episode yet. Bravo 🤙🏼
Clive Stafford Smith… excellent lawyer and person! I have a lot of respect for him. Especially after Edward Earl Johnson’s execution. He was so blunt and direct about what the family thought. It was fantastic to see someone challenging the system like he did! He should be awarded an MBE at least?
This was the programme I watched he was so kind to Earl Johnson.such a genuine man.Thought I recognised his voice.
he has been awarded an OBE
The profession of human rights lawyer has taken a beating with the likes of Starmer being one, but this guy is what I had hoped for in a human rights lawyer.
Starmer wasn’t one you muppet.
@@peteconrad2077he was
While this didn't change my stance on the death penalty, it did remind me how shitty the American legal system is. If the system actually cared about justice and not money or power then there would be way fewer innocent folks caught up to begin with. The corrupt broken system leads to innocents being convicted or the guilty getting to walk.
exactly
the problem isnt capital punishment being used, the problem is it being used in the wrong instances
This was so heavy and fascinating
Wow, I could listen to him for hours and hours.
It's easy to be friends with those people from the comfort of them being locked up and knowing they'll die. Would he have made friends with them in the real world though? Or if it was his daughter/father/ loved one they murdered or raped?
I love him and his sense of morality he seems to fight for justice for people in hopeless situations. Highly intelligent man.
I’d love to see him chat with Louis Theroux 😂
You have to respect the man’s passion and drive. That said, it’s difficult to take him seriously when he’s so blatantly gullible and/or naive to believe “Well the man’s obviously innocent because he said so.”
I think his humour has went over your head here.
I think you need to get familiar with british humor. Obviously someones word won't be the end all be all, but it's a better starting point than with the dude that says "Yeah I killed him, and I'd do it again!"
It starts with the person saying they are innocent _until the moment they die_. If they say it until the end, they either did it and want to convince someone (sometimes themselves), or they are truly innocent and want people to figure out the truth.
Then they investigate to see if the person was truly innocent, and to spread their story. Since killing an innocent person is wrong.
For those innocent people who have been wrongfully put to death, it is wrong but those who have committed a sick, pre-meditated murder to a child or someone innocent that didn’t have any connection to their killer- could you look those genuine victims in the eyes or their family and tell them the death sentence is wrong? Genuinely curious on the take on this- not hating
yes
I think he clearly stated his position - killing people is always wrong, that doesn't make the world a better place
Love what he’s doing but can’t agree with his politics….which leaves me conflicted. Great episode LB.
He’s a beautiful soul. I could listen to him all day
What a kind and passionate man,must be so heartbreaking to witness innocent people taking their last breath.
Sometimes listening to people talk it’s like they can’t comprehend that the state would or could get it wrong. It’s like they don’t want to believe it or the thought is too upsetting for them. I find that fascinating.
Love your stance, ethics and dedication. The DP is just plain wrong. What a wonderful human you are Clive❤ My thanks and best wishes.
I've met this man!!! Such a great role model
This man deserves worldwide respect…
As a la student, he is my inspiration and I would definitely stand up for such causes ❤
You're a legend dude
Love it. Great spirit right here. Authenticity defined.
Im a forensic psychiatrist and wish all attorneys had this man's attitude
What a thoroughly interesting and decent man.
What a great articulate genuine person, he also looks like Louis Theroux's dad
Thank you for what you do!
The last cigarette story is crazy 😂
This is the type of Human Rights Lawyer the UK needs as Prime Minister. You’d never believe Kier was a human rights lawyer.
This guy is the man. Tells it how it is.
A lesson in where our moral compass should be. Thank you
Awesome human being!
I empathise with this guy, he is obviously a good man who cares for people and always tries to find the best in them. On the other hand, he is biased because of the personal contact. The people he represents are murderers, rapists, liars, generally people who can never walk on the street. They chose their path and they received consequences. Overall, I wish nothing but the best for him ~
Nice way of putting it. I agree…
Many of us, and I imagine this guy, still think the death penalty is a fate that even the worst people alive don't deserve for several reasons, remember that!
Sorry but you clearly didn't watch the whole video before commenting this. He states very clearly that in some places over half the people who go on death row are innocent. And even those who aren't, it's not like he's releasing them "on the streets", he just doesn't think that doing to these people the same thing they did to others is gonna bring society any good.
Its your own bias to believe that just because people did terrible things that you can torture them, yes torture not humanely killed from electrocution. But on the other hand, some innocent people get killed anyway. So you really feel a few innocent people's time and life being unfairly prosecuted is worth making sure horrible people don't exist?
It seems you didn't spend that much time thinking about it.
@@soonlet4977 I actually spend a lot of time thinking about this issue. No justice is perfect and never will be. Just because people slip through the cracks or people get wrongfully sentenced doesn't mean we should stop enforcing the law and its punishments. He will tell you that half of these people are innocent. Based on what? It's based on their words, nothing else. If they had a proof, I'm sure he would immediately defend them and got them out of the death row. Some people deserve the punishment, it's ok if you disagree.
Wow, Clive, you are an absolute hero
Thank you Clive Stafford Smith
Truly fascinating man.
One thing about human behaviour we don't become so attached to someone who has committed a crime upon s victim we never knew. If this guy had his wife and children butchered and no reason for the motive. Then you feel it.personaly
Krishna Nanan Maharaj was a British Trinidadian businessman. In 1987 he was convicted by a Florida, U.S., court of the double murders of Chinese Jamaican businessmen Derrick Moo Young and his adult son Duane Moo Young, and was sentenced to death. Maharaj always denied committing the murders, and according to the human rights organisation Reprieve, the case of Krishna Maharaj was "an epic miscarriage of justice".
On 13 September 2019, Federal Magistrate Judge Alicia M. Otazo-Reyes made a legal finding that Maharaj had proven his innocence by "clear and convincing evidence" and that "no reasonable juror could convict him", but ruled that this was not sufficient for Maharaj to be set free
On 4 April 2017, the US 11th Circuit Court of Appeals granted a hearing based on evidence pointing to the involvement of Pablo Escobar's Medellín Cartel in the killings of which Maharaj had been convicted. The court said that the additional witnesses had presented "compelling" accounts that "independently corroborate one another's" and that "five individuals' stories reflect that the Moo Youngs were killed by the cartel."
What is your point?
That some people do evil heinous crimes.
Aren’t you capable of nuanced discussion/debate ?
Ps I don’t agree with his political rant at the end.
@@thesatisfiedcustomer4869Yes but the point is Kris didn’t commit the crime?? He spent decades in prison for something he was proven of being not being guilty for??
@@thesatisfiedcustomer4869 i didnt make any point. i literally just posted additional information that the guy never added.
I should not kill 2 wrongs don't make a right I do believe life in prison
What an amazing man. I wish more people had this outlook on the world, especially the death penalty. Horrific.
I think my life is entirely useless, but to come across someone like him truly makes me feel something
At approximately 6:30 pm, nicholas Ingram entered the Cobb County home of J.C. and Mary Sawyer, demanding that they let him use their phone and later demanding money and the keys to the couple's car, threatening to shoot them if they did not cooperate with him. Mary Sawyer gave Ingram $60, while J.C. Sawyer surrendered the keys to his pickup truck. Ingram then led the couple outside and into the woods surrounding their home. He tied their hands behind them and bound them to a tree using rope and wire. The Sawyers begged Ingram not to kill them while Ingram taunted and threatened them; he ultimately gagged them with his shirt after tearing it in two and stuffing each half into each victim's mouth. He then shot them both in the head at point-blank range. The shots were fatal to J.C. Sawyer, but Mrs. Sawyer survived. She played dead until she heard Ingram drive off with J.C. Sawyer's truck. After confirming that her husband was dead, Mary Sawyer untied herself and went to a neighbor's house to call the police.
Ok and now?
@@FlyingFawnWithNoWings and now what?
@moffat5914 why did you feel the need to put all of this information out on the internet for everyone to read?
@@moffat5914 Would you care to elaborate why did you tell us this story?
@@FlyingFawnWithNoWings because i did. you got a problem with facts?
They don't care as much about your guilt as how much you cooperate & whether or not you accept their plea deal
What an incredible human being.
I went into this with contempt for him but hearing the stories of all these innocent people, I really did start to like the guy and what he's done for all the people he exonerated.
id love to hear more stories from this gentleman.
No mention of the killers victims though is there
Killing is wrong no matter how you do it.
@@CyanideSunshines heinrich himmler deserved to live?
To the question of whether the US will abolish the death penalty, as with most people, they dont understand its a STATEs decision. NOT the Federal governments.
Exactly
The Supreme Court are a branch of the Federal Govt, and they struck the DP down once they can do it again. Having said that they are also a branch of the MAGA Party.
You could make an 8th amendment argument under the cruel and unusual punishment clause, but, until the supreme court turns blue, and this will take a while unfortunately, any case like this would be struck down.
1) there is Federal death penalty.
2) the question was whether the remaining states will abolish. Which is happening. Slowly, but happening
@@robo_cob And its going to be a very long time until, if and ever the SCOTUS turns blue. America is disgusted with Blue and if Harris slithers into office, the revulsion will be squared
Let's give a thought for the victims and their families.. I know what retribution I would want if my family was ever impacted by an abominable crime.
Isn’t life imprisonment not enough?
@@stucodyno, why should they live when they made the choice to murder.
@@cllk115 because 1 in 8 are actually innocent. Are you happy with that level of collateral damage? Is the death penalty really worth that?
@@FionaAlison444 maybe the focus could be on solving that issue instead of if they get life or death