Probably Sentenced to Life at Seventeen—The Story of David Milgaard by Cynthia J. Faryon will appeal to middle school readers, though it certainly can be used as high-interest/easy reading in high school classes. I myself enjoyed the parallel scenes at the start of the book where the author presents the diabolical actions of the real murderer with the silly youthful behavior of the accused.
The narrative is almost routine now if you’ve ever listened to exoneration stories on This American Life or Snap Judgment, or followed the long, bewildering story of the West Memphis Three. A sixteen-year-old boy is accused of a murder he didn’t commit, gets convicted at the hand of circumstantial evidence and drug-addled witnesses trying to save their own hides, and spends decades doing hard time. His exoneration is never guaranteed; he is freed at age 39 only because of the intractable efforts of his parents, especially his mother, and even then it’s more of a technicality because the province of Saskatchewan doesn’t want to retry him following a ruling by the Canadian Supreme Court. It takes him even longer to clear his name and force a review of the system that wrongly incarcerated him.
Considering the Common Core’s emphasis on non-fiction as a vehicle for student success, books such as this one could prove to be very valuable for social studies instruction, since it addresses ethical issues in the criminal justice system. The crime took place in 1969, which may seem like ancient history, but even then didn’t police have a sense that this boy didn’t fit the profile of a cold-blooded killer? Why was the testimony of Milgaard’s clearly unreliable friends even admissible in court? And why would any government toss a boy just turning seventeen into prison with hardcore inmates? This is not a cautionary tale—don’t get framed for murder! The book avoids facile warnings about the indiscretions of youth—petty theft, drug use, indiscriminate sex. David even manages to escape from prison at one point, which only reinforces his reputation as a career criminal. But none of these makes him a rapist and murderer. Only evidence could prove that, and the evidence was ignored for years while the real killer remained at liberty.
Sentenced to Life at Seventeen—The Story of David Milgaard, published by Lorimer includes a timeline, glossary and a list of further readings in its 120 pages. It is part of a series called Real Justice, which, judging by the titles, addresses judicial injustices that have upended the lives of young people in Canada. I’m going to try to read them all, hoping that the good guy wins at the end of each tragic story.