“Getting Life” by Michael Morton – Stolen Years, Wasted Lives
In Getting Life, Michael Morton chronicles the twenty-five years of his life that went down the drain as he spent them behind bars for the murder of his wife, a crime he did not commit.
In the book, Morton discusses pretty much the entire ordeal, from the morning when he went to work for the last time all the way to his tenacious fight to have DNA tests conducted and his final “victory”, being acquitted.
As you can imagine, Getting Life is much more than a mere recounting of the events that transpired, though there are certainly countless facts in here that will prove interesting to virtually anyone out there who has some sort of opinion on the justice system.
More than that though, we get to delve deep inside Morton's head, into what was transpiring inside the walls of his mind during all those painstaking years when his rightful freedom was denied to him, when it was believed by all that the blood of his own wife was on his hands.
He was a man who had lost it all: his wife, his son (having lost complete contact with him), his innocence, his freedom, and his hope. And nevertheless, he trudged onwards facing impossible odds, trying to reclaim what little was left of his life.
What goes on inside the head of a man who can find the strength to continue under such duress certainly serves as an incomparable source of inspiration to all those who get acquainted with it.
Going beyond the psychological impact the whole thing had/has on Morton, this book also ends up being a very real wake up call and commentary on the American justice system, and quite frankly, justice systems around the world.
The reason as to why Morton was sentenced behind bars in the first place was incompetence, corruption, and the desire to simply attribute the crime to a culprit and call it a victory. Yes, it does sound like something out of a stereotypical thriller about corrupt cops, but this is all factual.
Mountains of evidence pointing away from Morton were overlooked, witness reports and clues leading to the actual culprit were dismissed and never followed up on, with the most important one being his bandana left behind at the crime scene.
In 2005, Morton's lawyers had filed for a DNA test which eventually exonerated him, and it was only after six years that it was granted, in no small part thanks to the work of a lawyer who viciously fought against it, for one reason or another.
In other words, evidence was suppressed and all was arranged to make Morton the guilty party in an “open-and-shut” case. If anything, this ought to put in question the amount of faith placed in the current mechanism of the justice system.
All in all, Getting Life is the story of an unthinkable tragedy and a terrible injustice occurring to the people who least deserved it, because of sheer incompetence, neglect, and the sake of preserving self-image.
It is a deep reflection on the power of the human spirit to withstand the most unfathomable hardships, as well as the decaying rot that is turning the justice system against the people it is meant to protect. This book is one that can only be recommended to everyone for the incredible story recounted within.
 | Michael MortonMichael Morton is an American man who was wrongfully convicted in 1987 for the murder of his wife, and acquitted only 25 years later once overlooked pieces of evidence as well as the prosecutor's incompetence had been brought to light. In Getting Life, Morton chronicled the whole ordeal. |
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