This documentary shares the story of Marvin Mutch, a guest speaker we had at the beginning of the semester, who was wrongly convicted of murder. His story is crucial for addressing the issues of the criminal justice system, especially in California. After spending 41 years in prison, Mutch was released on parole. This once “lost child” was forced to build his life from scratch, not knowing the feeling of freedom since the age of 18. Watch this documentary to see the multiple ways that Mutch was wronged by the criminal justice system.
When Mutch visited our class, I would’ve never guessed that this man had spent over 40 years in prison. I constantly wonder about the anger he must feel for the system since his sentence wasn’t just a harmless accident. Being convicted without the necessary evidence, as Mutch was, is a severe miscarriage of justice.
Towards the end of the documentary, when referring to the prisons, Mutch states, “These beds should be for people you’re scared of, not people you’re mad at”. This quote really stood out to me because I never thought of the criminal justice system in that way, but I believe Mutch couldn’t have said it better. What does this quote mean to you?