It began when two young robbers
Got a bargain for their plea:
If they would only name an accomplice,
They’d get away with "second degree".
And the vengeance for a dead policeman
On someone was bound to fall.
But even their tortured description
Doesn‘t fit this prisoner at all.
"I cannot live without my children," she cried,
"It breaks my heart to see them through the bars."
The system is cracking, cracking in desperation hacking
And the poor, and the black, and the women wear the scars.
Ella Ellison sat in the courtroom
Her innocence always maintained
While the prosecutor called her a cop-killer
And monkey, and many other names
Her accusers bought years of freedom
With evidence so full of holes
And Ellison found guilty of murder
sentenced lor life, with no parole.
Now the two young desperados
may have had their reasons for the plan
And the cop who died at that jewelry store
may have been a brave and loyal man
But it for mercy you would argue
ll with compassion you would care
Then how about some consideration
for a woman who wasn’t even there?
"I cannot live without my children," she cried,
"It breaks my heart to see them through the bars."
The system is cracking, cracking in desperation hacking
And the poor, and the black, and the women wear the scars.
Now this country's s'posed to have ideals for export
And liberty enough to spare
But when l heard about Ella Ellison
For the first time I got really scared
I confess I believed in the protection
of my light hair, my college degree
But now you know I just can't shake the feeling
That they could just as well come after me
And l dream that I deserve it
my innocence forever lost
That of all the little mistakes in my life
This would finally be the cost.
Oh my sisters may know of this disease
Always afraid, always feeling in the wrong
But I'm waking up to see now that the victims
Are just the ones who keep their silence too long!
"I cannot live without my children," she cried,
"It breaks my heart to see them through the bars."
The system is cracking, cracking in desperation hacking
And the poor, and the black, and the women wear the scars.
Got a bargain for their plea:
If they would only name an accomplice,
They’d get away with "second degree".
And the vengeance for a dead policeman
On someone was bound to fall.
But even their tortured description
Doesn‘t fit this prisoner at all.
"I cannot live without my children," she cried,
"It breaks my heart to see them through the bars."
The system is cracking, cracking in desperation hacking
And the poor, and the black, and the women wear the scars.
Ella Ellison sat in the courtroom
Her innocence always maintained
While the prosecutor called her a cop-killer
And monkey, and many other names
Her accusers bought years of freedom
With evidence so full of holes
And Ellison found guilty of murder
sentenced lor life, with no parole.
Now the two young desperados
may have had their reasons for the plan
And the cop who died at that jewelry store
may have been a brave and loyal man
But it for mercy you would argue
ll with compassion you would care
Then how about some consideration
for a woman who wasn’t even there?
"I cannot live without my children," she cried,
"It breaks my heart to see them through the bars."
The system is cracking, cracking in desperation hacking
And the poor, and the black, and the women wear the scars.
Now this country's s'posed to have ideals for export
And liberty enough to spare
But when l heard about Ella Ellison
For the first time I got really scared
I confess I believed in the protection
of my light hair, my college degree
But now you know I just can't shake the feeling
That they could just as well come after me
And l dream that I deserve it
my innocence forever lost
That of all the little mistakes in my life
This would finally be the cost.
Oh my sisters may know of this disease
Always afraid, always feeling in the wrong
But I'm waking up to see now that the victims
Are just the ones who keep their silence too long!
"I cannot live without my children," she cried,
"It breaks my heart to see them through the bars."
The system is cracking, cracking in desperation hacking
And the poor, and the black, and the women wear the scars.
Contributed by Bartleby - 2011/5/17 - 14:51
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Album “...And Ain't I a Woman?” del 1977.
Scritta da Joanna Cadzen
Paredon Records.
Nel 1973 John Schroeder, detective della polizia di Boston, fu assassinato nel corso di una rapina. I responsabili, tre ragazzi, furono identificati ed arrestati il giorno dopo. Due di loro, per cercare di cavarsela a buon mercato, indicarono agli inquirenti che l’assassina era una loro complice e la identificarono in una donna di nome Ella Mae Ellison, una loro conoscente, madre di quattro bambini. Nel 1974 Ella fu condanna a due ergastoli solo sulla base della testimonianza dei due giovani rapinatori. Per fortuna, anche grazie ad una forte campagna di solidarietà in favore della condannata, due anni dopo venne riconosciuto che la sentenza non si fondava su alcun indizio credibile e i veri responsabili rivelarono di essersi inventati l’esistenza di una complice.
Ella Mae Ellison fu scarcerata nel 1978.
Ho trovato questa storia su questa pagina dedicata ai clamorosi errori giudiziari avvenuti nel Massachusetts.
Alcuni di coloro che furono ingiustamente condannati furono addirittura “giustiziati”.
Un esempio per tutti? Sacco e Vanzetti.
In tutti gli USA, dal 1973 ad oggi, sono state 138 le persone rinchiuse nel braccio della morte che hanno visto in seguito derubricate le imputazioni a loro carico o che addirittura sono state rilasciate assolte perché innocenti. Nel frattempo però tutte loro si sono fatte parecchi anni di carcere, in media quasi 10, molti dei quali trascorsi con la spada di Damocle dell’esecuzione. (dati Death Penalty Information Center).