JUSTICE

Bob Herbert writes about something that happens far too often. While on TV shows like "Law and Order," prosecutors are presented as people of conscience who would rather let a case go unsolved than convict the wrong person, reality is something quite different. Pressure to come up with convictions (particularly in high-profile cases) is constant, and bosses are willing to look the other way if it makes them look good.

Anyone who has anything to do with the criminal justice system will tell you: Cops lie on the witness stand whenever they deem it necessary - that is to say, most of the time.

Years ago, I was only one of many reporters covering the Kafkaesque tale of Terry McCracken, a local kid convicted of killing the proprietor of a local grocery store. Even after the real killers confessed, the county D.A. refused to drop his opposition to a new trial and McCracken, jailed since the age of 17, spent more time in prison as a result. He was eventually freed.

It was a shame in so many ways. Terry was what you might call the "white sheep" of his family. His father was a member of the Warlocks, a local motorcycle club, and his mother killed herself while Terry was a kid. (Neighborhood legend was that her husband actually killed her while the kids watched.) His siblings were often in trouble, but Terry, described by neighbors and teachers as "a good kid" and a decent student, was determined to graduate high school and go into the Marines.

Instead, he spent the next eight years in prison - where, thanks to his father's connections, he was at least spared the worst of it.

The media did its job this time. The Philadelphia Inquirer did a Pulitzer-winning investigative series that, although it didn't uncover any new information, put the political heat on the D.A. and increased the pressure for a new trial.

McCracken was freed - but irreparably harmed. The last I'd heard, he'd moved out to the country and was a biker now.

And I think of all the times where this doesn't make it into the papers.
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