prosecutor

the Web Editors 1-10-2017

Image via Charleston County Sheriff's Office

On Jan. 10 a federal jury sentenced Dylann Roof to death for the fatal shooting of nine African American parishioners, reports CNN. The shooting took place in the basement of the parishioners' church — the historic Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C. — in June 2015.

Roof’s sentencing comes after family and friends of the nine churchgoers publicly expressed their forgiveness of his actions, and others called for Roof to not receive the death penalty.

Screenshot from Redemption of the Prosecutor

Screenshot from Redemption of the Prosecutor

We started making our new documentary “Redemption of the Prosecutor” for the same reason we always do: someone told us a story.

Bill Mefford works in the social justice office of the United Methodist Church, and he called us last August to say he’d just seen an amazing talk. The talker was one Preston Shipp, a devout Christian and former prosecutor from Nashville who went into a local prison to teach. When Preston heard the inmates’ stories, he began to realize how unjust the system was. He was especially torn up about an inmate named Cyntoia, who was Preston’s star student and had received a life sentence as a juvenile. Preston underwent a spiritual crisis that boiled down to a fundamental question: “How can I reconcile the job I was being asked to do as a prosecutor with my faith in Jesus, who proclaimed release for prisoners?” We won’t give away the ending, but there’s a surprising twist that left us saying this is a story that needs to be told in churches across America.

Cathleen Falsani 9-20-2011

troy-davi-amnest-intl-photoDavis is set to die on Wednesday for the killing of off-duty Savannah officer Mark MacPhail, who was slain while rushing to help a homeless man being attacked. It is the fourth time in four years his execution has been scheduled by Georgia officials...The decision appeared to leave Davis with little chance of avoiding the execution date. Defense attorney Jason Ewart has said that the pardons board was likely Davis' last option.

Andrew Hyun 3-14-2011
Last winter, in the flurry of Christmas parties and potlucks, I was called in for jury duty.