I’m a big fan of The Innocence Project, which assists individuals unjustly convicted of crimes. But I did a massive double-take when I saw that Janet Reno is on its board of directors. Janet Reno! She bears as much responsibilty as anyone for the child abuse witch hunt trials of the late 80s that claimed many innocent victims, including several prosecuted by her office, via the “Miami method” she pioneered. To my knowledge, Reno has never apologized for what we might euphemistically call the “excesses” of her prosecutorial tactics. But let’s let two of her victims speak for themselves, via Frontline:
INTERVIEWER: At the moment of your liberation, had you been able to come face to face with Janet Reno and her prosecutors, what would you have said to them?
GRANT SNOWDEN: I don’t have anything to say to them. I want to know what they have to say to me. I want to know what they have to say to me for taking my entire life away from me, 12 years in prison. I lost my children’s childhood. I lost my wife, my home, everything that I ever owned. What do they have to say to me? They know they did wrong. They know they maliciously prosecuted me, and they sent me away for something I didn’t do. And I’m- I’m not happy about it at all.
INTERVIEWER: If Janet Reno were to come into this room right now, what would you have to say to her? What would you ask her?
BOBBY FIJNJE: “Why?” That would be my one question. “Why? Why did you spend so much money trying to convict a 14-year-old kid? Why- why- why even try to place a kid that’s 14 in a maximum-security prison? Why would you even think of doing something like that if you’re a crusader for children?”