Based
on the information given, Terrill Swift had a powerful influence upon my view
of the justice system. Also, the power the police officers may have over an
innocent person took me by surprise. I personally do not believe it is right
for a person in power to convince a frightened teen or young adult to admit to
a crime they did not commit. Possibly even going as far as, in Terrill’s case,
to trick that same scared person into signing a confession in hopes to let
themselves go back home. Part of the blame is to be put on Terrill for not
reading what was presented to him before signing off, but at the age of 17, my
current age, I could not say I would do things differently. Being scared and
wanting to go home, I would take the police officer's word when he presented me
with information that would set me free. The fact that these cases are not rare
surprises me even more. I could understand if, once in a while due to
inevitable flaws within the justice system, someone is prosecuted who should
not be. This does not give any right, though, for officers to force people to
sign wrongful confessions against that person’s will. From what Terrill was
saying, this has happened many times and will continue to happen. While blame
should be placed on the person signing but not reading what is being presented,
it is very easy to take the word of someone whose purpose should be to protect
you.
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