Opinion
 

Staff Editorial

                            Matt Dulin    Barrett Goldsmith    Zach Lee 
                Jim Parsons            Christian Schmidt           Blake Whitaker

Do the right thing

Hardly anyone thinks our legal system is perfect. Perfection simply doesn't exist in a world as complicated as this one, and the occasional mistake will be made.

Enter John Michael Harvey. For the last 15 years, Harvey has been imprisoned after being convicted of child molestation. When his accuser, now 18, came forward and said she had incorrectly identified Harvey as her attacker at his trial, what he had been saying for the last decade suddenly made sense: He didn't molest anyone.

And when a judge finally overturned his conviction, everything should have been alright again -- an innocent man would get his chance to start life over with a clean slate.

But that isn't the way things are happening. Instead, Harvey will have to wait 90 days to get out and start things over. Compared to the 15 years he's been in prison already, 90 days isn't that much. At least that must be what Harvey is thinking, since he's refused to leave prison, despite the fact that he could walk out tomorrow.

Harvey says he won't leave until he can walk out of prison without registering as a sex offender. Wait -- why should he have to register? Because he's still a convict in the prison system's eyes. Until the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals considers his case, some 90 days from now, Harvey is still guilty. And that means he would have to temporarily register as a sex offender. His name would go on sex offender lists and would be plastered on newspapers as a sex offender.

It seems ironic that a legal system predicated on "innocent until proven guilty" would make an innocent man register as though he is guilty. Ninety days must seem like a small price to pay for his dignity. But Harvey shouldn't have to wait just to ensure that his name isn't further tarnished by being forced to register.

Our legal system isn't perfect. But once, just this once, the right thing should happen. The Court of Appeals should consider his case tomorrow and set him free, no strings attached.
 Send comments to dccampus@mail.uh.edu