The Netflix crime documentary Making a Murderer calls into question the murder conviction of Steven Avery, and after watching the entire series, fans have rallied around the subject of the film who is currently imprisoned, petitioning for a presidential pardon. The petition now has a nearly 200k signatures.
The documentary essentially informs the viewer about Steven Avery’s conviction history. He was incarcerated for 18 years for a sexual assault conviction but was released when DNA analysis pointed to another man. In 2005 he was convicted of the murder of photographer Teresa Halbach. The petitions created for Avery’s pardon argue that the justice system failed both him and his nephew, Brendan Dassey, who was separately convicted for sexually assaulting and assisting his uncle in murdering Halbach.
The reason this case is getting a more than adequate amount of attention and publicity is probably because of the media trend of covering stories concerning the failure of the justice system. I feel that the American justice system, in some aspects, is corrupt. The penalties that are being given for different levels of crime vary tremendously. What comes to mind is the case of a teenager who made and distributed brownies laced with weed and faced either life in prison or capitol punishment. The death penalty was introduced with the intention of executing and ridding the country of more serious criminals like murderers and domestic terrorists, not for confused and rebellious teens who commit way less heinous crimes. I say #FreeStevenAvery on grounds of procedural justice.
http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/making-murderer-petitions-free-steven-avery-draw-200k/story?id=36079833