This is a test of the emergency editarian system. The editarians of your area in voluntary cooperation with the FCC, RI, SOS and other authorities have developed
this system to keep you informed in the event of Rotary news. If this had been an actual situation involving Rotary news, a real editarian would have instructed you as to where to tune in your area for news and official information. This concludes this test of the Emergency Rotarian System.
this system to keep you informed in the event of Rotary news. If this had been an actual situation involving Rotary news, a real editarian would have instructed you as to where to tune in your area for news and official information. This concludes this test of the Emergency Rotarian System.There I was, minding my own business, trying to make a fresh start and they pulled me back in. Yes, I did attend Rotary today. No, I didn’t take notes. This will be a cognitive recall test that only a President could pass. President Susan Angel called us to order. We had an invocation. It was awesome and not too churchy (as you know, I kinda tune out churchy). We sang a patriotic song. Hari rocked it out on the piano for us and from a distance, I could hear the angelic voice of Mark Hooper carrying the rest of us in song. Amazingly no guests, wait a minute, yes, there was one guest, and then another, a new hire from past Prez. Lisa Smith’s office who has made it to 3 meetings. We all know what that means. Free lunch is over, pony up! Then, with little fanfare, Terry Terry took to the podium and introduced us to special music. Blues. Not ordinary blues. Harmonica blues. This guy had a 10 pack of harmonicas and switched keys 3 times and nailed it each time. Back up was by a percussive guitar player who stole the show. The singer’s car was towed while he was singing for us. Dang it if that ain’t what the blues is all about. “I sang a song. Ba da da boom. They towed my car. Ba da da boom. Ain’t got not ride. Ba da da boom. I’m so sad inside.
On to the main event. A speaker from Cooley Law School whose name is in last week’s Rotogram, talked to us about getting arrested, convicted, jailed and how much work it is for the clinic at Cooley to get you out after a wrongful conviction. How do wrongful convictions happen? DNA evidence? Faulty eye witness testimony? Shoddy police work? Junk science? Ineffective assistance of counsel? Check the box for all of the above or a combination thereof. Students at Cooley with the guidance of their professors have examined cases, evidence, sought out new evidence, spoke with witnesses and generally turn the case inside out to see if justice was done or not. It is an eye opening experience for law students to feel the weight of a client’s problem on their shoulders. It was eye opening for Rotarians to see that Cooley had roughly 10 convictions overturned which results in a convict being able to change his name to an exoneree. The story doesn’t end there. Imagine having spent 10 years in prison for a crime you didn’t commit. What would that feel like to you? What would you miss in those years. One of the exonerees was in prison for more than 30 years. There were a ton of questions. Great, enlightening presentation. With the fear of a wrongful conviction tattooed on our collective brains, we all walked out, in single file, stopped at every stop sign. Looked both ways. Used our blinkers and basically didn’t violate a single rule all the way home for fear of being apprehended, convicted and wrongfully jailed.
Thank you Kevin Schumacher for "coming back". His email is: schumacher@glassenrhead.com