Larry Griffin

If you care about abolition, you need to read this article. Heck, if you care about society and the human condition you need to read this article.

The State of Missouri may very well have executed an innocent man. Larry Griffin, who was convicted of killing Quintin Moss in 1981, was killed by the State of Missouri in 1995. As is not uncommon, Larry maintained his innocence until his death. Now, even member's of the Moss' family believe the Griffin was not Quintin's killer.

Ok, so this is not the first time that someone has claimed innocence. Its also not the first time that the victim's family has believed someone else committed the murder. The difference this time? The prosecution has REOPENED the case. Larry Griffin is DEAD, but now the State has reopened the case based on alarming evidence that Larry may not have killed Quintin Moss. HELLO.

I'm assuming there are very few people out there who are not concerned that we might execute the innocent (those that are not figure the innocent are collateral damage I guess? There are also those that think that even if the convicted person is innocent of that particular murder, they probably did something else horrible so their execution is ok? Huh...now that's good public policy. I hope they are not on my jury if I'm accused of something horrid.). Thing is, despite the number who are shocked and horrified by the idea of killing an innocent person, many of those still think capital punishment should be part of public policy. To many, the problem is not capital punishment, its conviction of the innocent. Huh...I guess I just don't see how those two don't go hand in hand. Perhaps proof that an innocent was murdered by our government will help convince the dissenters.

Of course, for me, whether Larry Griffin killed Quintin Moss or not, did not justify his death. However, if he did NOT kill Quintin Moss, then he was a sacrificial lamb in a horrifying display of power. If Griffin didn't kill Moss, then the State took away 14 years of his life in a prison cell and then cancelled his life for good in 1995. Larry Griffin was 40 at the time of his death. 40!

Executed man's case reopened