The American justice system often prides itself on keeping the innocent free and the guilty behind bars. You know the saying, "You're innocent until proven guilty." However, that is never true when it comes to certain groups of people. What types of people? Minorities and people that don't fit the "mold of the mainstream."

Often times, juries have their minds made up at the beginning of a trial. This was so for 3 teenaged boys in West Memphis, Arkansas in 1993. Fourteen years ago on June 3, Damien Echols (18 at the time), Jason Baldwin (16 at the time), and Jessie Misskelly Jr. (17 at them) were arrested and charged with 3 counts of first degree murder. Their supposed victims? Three eight-year-olds; Christopher Byers, Stevie Branch, and Michael Moore, slain on May 5 of that year.

Damien, Jason, and Jessie had their fates sealed just for being different. They wore all black, their haircuts that of the punk era, and they were in the peak of teenaged rebellion. Three children were brutally mudered in small town america; someplace where being different is not accepted... ever! This was long before the "Trench Coat Mafia," Goth-life, or even the "emo" way of life.

Without any physical evidence, or any other way to tie Damien, Jason, and Jessie to the unspeakable crime, the three were convicted. All three have maintained their innocence. Never waivering from stories of not being at the crime scene that night. Their sentences would and will not allow them to be released on parole ever. A painful injustice that has spanned more than a decade. But how can we sit by an just let them languish in prison for so long for something they did not do?

I'll tell you how. Society shuns and punishes whatever is different. If you don't follow the path of everyone else, you are called eccentric, strange, weird, or just plain mad. Why can't you just be called you? I can't compare my experience of being the brunt of societal scoffing with that of Damien, Jason, or Jessie, but I can see why sad things like this happen. It is just that, sad.

To learn more about the West Memphis Three, check out http://www.wm3.org See what you can do to help free them. If nothing else, learn of just one injustice that has tarnished the American justice system.