Evergreen Ever the
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Opinion: Lessons from the Wrongful Conviction of Joyce Ann Brown Ryan Fiedelman, Isabelle Kronick, Megan Liu, Lily McArdle, Chris Quan, Skylar Smith
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n May 6, 1980, a family-owned fur shop in Preston Center became a murder scene. To the dismay and shock of his wife, Rubin Danziger was robbed and murdered. In the investigation that followed, a 34-year-old McKinney woman named Joyce Ann Brown was wrongly convicted of committing the crime. We first learned about this case in Tom Perryman’s Literature of Human Rights class in the fall semester. We learned how Joyce Ann Brown was misidentified and wrongly convicted of capital murder on false witness testimony. And we learned how, in the years following the conviction, evidence emerged pointing to faults in the original investigation and trial. The facts are disturbing. The jailhouse informant had her sentence shortened in exchange for her testimony. On the witness stand, she lied about her criminal record and what she heard — facts that investigators uncovered. There were other appalling mistakes. The getaway car was rented by a Denver resident named Joyce Ann Brown—a person who had no connection to the McKinney Joyce Ann Brown convicted of Rubin Danziger’s murder. The actual murderer, Rene Taylor, confessed to Danziger’s murder after she
was arrested for another murder; she revealed that her accomplice was a woman named Lorraine Germany, who was being held for another crime in New Mexico. Germany, it turned out, looked strikingly similar to the wrongly convicted Joyce Ann Brown, which likely explains how Danziger’s wife, Ala, mistakenly placed Brown at the scene of the murder. While Joyce Ann Brown’s story was highly publicized and she was granted a new trial and eventually exonerated, we learned that the majority of other innocent inmates are not as lucky. Most important of all, we learned it is our responsibility to bring awareness and attention to this case and others that are similar. While this case closed over 30 years ago, there are still many imprisoned for crimes they did not commit. The injustices in our system need to be exposed. We need to work as the greater Dallas community, as future voters and present citizens to ensure that the “justice” system is grounded in truth and more equitable for all.
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These skills most directly prepare you to be a contributing member of society. Thus, we believe that Personal Finance should be a mandatory class at Greenhill. In a world that revolves around money, knowing how to use it is one of the most important skills you can have.
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national and international events through articles and editorials written and edited by students. The Evergreen welcomes letters and emails from readers. We reserve the right to edit submissions for accuracy, grammar and length. The Evergreen will not publish material that we judge to be libelous, obscene, invades privacy or constitutes hate speech. Anonymous letters will not be published. The staff editorial represents the opinion of The Evergreen staff, not necessarily that of Greenhill School.
The Evergreen is an independent, student-run newspaper serving the community of Greenhill School. It is printed six times during the school year. Print circulation is 800 copies. Past issues are archived at issuu.com/ghevergreen. The Evergreen staff upholds a code of ethics that values honesty, integrity, accuracy and responsibility. Our mission is to help the local community interpret campus, local,
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Leaving school and moving into the world as an adult comes with the added burden of managing finances responsibly. "
Greenhill currently requires Narrative Nonfiction because the school believes it’s important for everyone – not just those who love to write – to be able to tell their story. Whether in a college application essay or a job interview far in the future, a student’s ability to tell their story can put them on the path to success. We have been telling stories our whole lives, and Narrative Nonfiction helps us refine those skills. The lessons Personal Finance teaches, despite their importance, are not skills we are just socialized to know. Most students do not grow up learning about taxes or investment. Finance is an area largely unexplored by most of the student body, yet it is one of the most crucial when looking beyond high school. This partially comes from the stigma around discussing money. It’s not something
Evergreen Print Editors-in-Chief
Jothi Gupta and Diane Lin
Executive Editors
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Kronick: ”Lots of Work to Do” !"#$ #"%&'$ ("%$ ')*+,-.)$ /0)$ )1"/-"2*$ ("%$3)&/$4*$("%$&)4,2)'$4."%/$/0)$),,",*$ 42'$-25%*/-+)$"3$/0)$+4*)6 Isabelle Kronick: Because of Texas’ long history of injustice, I wasn’t initially surprised by the wrongful conviction. However, as I began to learn just how many things went wrong for Joyce Ann Brown— that information was deliberately hidden, the majority of the jury was white, and so on—I was shocked. I put myself in her position: I would be beyond terrified if I realized that I’d forever be associated with a fatal armed robbery, never mind having a criminal record next time I tried to apply for a job or seek social services. The sheer fear that I felt for Joyce Ann Brown and others in her position was overwhelming.
Managing Editor - Content Saara Bidiwala
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Isabelle Kronick: I always thought that telling the truth would be enough to keep me out of trouble. Clearly, that is not how our system works. I’ve learned that these cracks and loopholes that keep the innocent incarcerated are stains of our nation’s racist past, and we somehow cannot agree to get rid of them. As a country, we have lots of work to do. I hope that, by voting, advocating, and otherwise we will soon reach a point where the justice system is actually just.
Sumana Kethu and Spencer Jacobs
Editorial: Personal Finance Should Be Mandatory hen we leave Greenhill, the knowledge and skills we have learned from our classes will help us in many ways. Because of what we learn in science and history, we are more aware of the world; and language, math and English will help us immensely in participating in it. However, some of the most basic, necessary skills for adult life are only mastered, generally speaking, by a select few Greenhill students who elect to take Personal Finance, a class dedicated to teaching students about personal responsibility and social consciousness. Covering a breadth of topics from credit scores to real estate, the course offers students the opportunity to take on realworld situations where they are forced to make financial decisions. Students learn how to handle money and weigh costs and benefits of financial endeavors. Regardless of how well you can solve indefinite integrals or how much you know about how World War I started, many of us without this knowledge will be calling our parents or Googling how to budget our future salaries or buy car insurance. As Upper School students, we are nearing the end of our time as dependents. Leaving school and moving into the world as an adult comes with the added burden of managing finances responsibly. Unfortunately, so many of us leave high school not knowing how to do just that.
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most of us talk about casually like we would our stories, for example. Students won’t get in-depth exposure to personal finances unless it’s done in a formal class setting. With finance, learning passively isn’t an option. In fact, many adults still hire expensive services to advise them on their finances. Financial literacy and personal responsibility are critical to life beyond school. Not only do spending habits and good choices matter, but financial competency adds a layer of freedom to life. You don’t need to rely on anyone or anything to tell you how to use your money. There is a lot of information out there, not all of which can be trusted. Furthermore, being knowledgeable about personal spending habits means better control over one’s financial life and lower risk of financial trouble. High school is the best time to learn these skills. With college fast approaching, students need to know how they are going to manage their money once they are on their own. Most of you will have some kind of job before the end of college, if you don’t already. Having the knowledge to make financial decisions can give you more independence. Finally, college itself involves money and money management, especially if you take out student loans for an undergraduate or master’s degree. Personal Finance is only a semester long, but we can confidently say that its impacts are lifelong.
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Corrections and Clarifications We pledge to correct our errors. To request a correction or clarification, please email Diane Lin: lind22@greenhill.org