What can we do?

So you have a little information, and you want to help, but how?

1. Educate yourself

Read the paper. Discover how many cases from 2001-2008 have been overturned, how many prosecutors have been caught lying and concealing evidence in Harris County. Check out the Innocence Project, a group of lawyers that work to clear wrongly convicted inmates based on DNA evidence. Find out how little evidence is actually required to be convicted of sexual assault.
If you don't know the facts, you can't pass them on!

2. Start the conversation

 Carlos Coy has been incarcerated for nearly ten years; in that time, the world has kept moving, new names have popped up and flamed out in the media. Don't let Coy sink slowly into obscurity! Buy or make a free SPM shirt; stick a decal on your car. Play his music loudly! Print up a few small posters (card sized, four to a page) and ask the guy at the corner store if you can put them up. Use wheat paste (with permission) and they'll stay for months. Call the media and tell them you want to hear about Coy, about the case, about the Dope House. Call Dope House and ask when Son of Norma (SPM's newest album) is dropping. Put his name out there and remind people how much they loved SPM; how his lyrics spoke to them, and the sense of doubt they felt when they heard of his conviction. Most of us had a feeling that something wasn't quite right, but people shy away from having anything to do with someone accused of so heinous a crime. There's a lot of chronological 'space' between then and now, and your little wheat paste-poster might be enough to encourage them to look deeper into what happened...Or maybe ask someone else what they think, which leads to...

3. Engage others

When someone sees you in your SPM shirt, or asks about the music, don't be afraid to tell them about what's happening. Instead of saying "He didn't rape nobody!” point out how many rape convictions have been overturned since Pat Lykos took office. Ask them if they understand what Brady Violations are, and tell them about how often they are committed by Harris County Prosecutors. You might believe Coy is innocent, but you can't prove it, so stick with the facts. Even if you don't convince them that day, the next time they read about the exoneration of a man convicted of rape they'll remember...and wonder if you were right.