In 1993, the Midwestern United States was submerged by extreme rainfall and historic flooding that resulted in tens of deaths, billions of dollars in damages, and a breach of levees up and down the Mississippi River. In the small river town of Quincy, Illinois, 24-year-old James Scott was convicted under an obscure 1979 Missouri law for intentionally “causing a catastrophe”. His alleged crime was causing the West Quincy levee to fail and his alleged motive was to strand his wife on the other side of the river so he could be free to party and go fishing with his friends. Though no one died in this levee breach, James is the first and only person in Missouri history convicted under this law and is currently serving a life sentence.
In this episode of Overlooked, Adam Pitluk, journalist and author of Damned to Eternity, returns to Quincy, IL to further investigate how James may have been scapegoated by local community and law enforcement officials whose tunnel vision firmly placed the blame on James, a crime which he maintains to this day that he didn’t do.
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source
This is Adam Pitluk, the narrator of the VICE episode “Overlooked” and the author of the book about James Scott and the Great Midwestern Floods of 1993. Based on many comments of people looking to help James Scott, I have set up a Go Fund Me account that will raise money for a legal team that might reach the governor of Missouri, and will help offset some of the bills that have accrued in the wake of Sharon and Robert Scott’s deaths.
As an aside, my commitment to this story after two decades has shifted from a journalistic undertaking to a humanitarian mission. He has now been in prison for almost 30 years (the documentary was filmed in June 2021).
I have no financial stake in this story, which is why I did not name the book in the documentary, nor am I naming it here. To wit, the book has been out of print since 2010, and it did not make a profit. Any book sales at this point are strictly third-party and do not involve me or the publisher.
I will update the Go Fund Me page as new developments arise.
Thank you to producer Sneha Antony and the team at VICE for revisiting the story of James Scott. This is without a doubt the most attention the case has received since Court TV broadcast a live verdict of his second trial on April 30, 1998.
AP
Go Fund Me search for: James Scott, inmate #1001364 legal fund
Trying to seems like that ex sheriff guy had a hard-on for this whole family and just wanted to put the blame on him no matter what.. even with no evidence at all
Free James Scott!!
How did one guy break a levee that they used bulldozers to work on ?!
WTF am I crazy is seeing this is clearly a case of county mismanagement of levees that got scapegoated?! Seriously WTF the pictures alone show that they cut trenches at predetermined distances and the failure was at one of those reliefs
This just shows how self entitled the law enforcement is in this area of Missouri they would never compensate the man cause they will never except being proven wrong this shows they believe they can’t be wrong and will never let any other groups of people or individuals get in there way so they keep this innocent man in prison so they can feel better about themselves
Sooooo. Hundreds of volunteers. Heavy equipment and numerous day's hard work. Was just undone by one person, just like that??? The good citizens of Quincy need to have explained to them that, there really isn't a Superman. I cannot understand how anyone could think one man could undo thousands of hour's work. It could be done. But 30 years later. He'd still be working on it. The witness and the judge. Need to have everything taken from them. And locked up under the prison, until the day they die. And thrown into the river.
i only did a fraction of time in comparison to Jim, and yea it was based on LEO LIES….. so i target pigs forever since
A travesty of justice. So sad for him.
every case in America is hilarious because the judge, jury, cops, reporters, criminals are all really dumb. It's like the blind leading the blind
The arsonist's mortal enemy is: WATER! Obviously he wouldn't cause a flood! Case closed.
He needs out wtf is up with life??? I did 5 years for a crime I didn't do cause of conspiracy charge. I lost that time because of something someone else did. The system is wrong I get they have to do what they do but there people that gets paid with tax dollars to stop innocent people doing time
Jimmy would have been better off staying home, drinking beer and not trying to help. Talk about being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Not trying to be funny . . . but staying home and drinking beer is sometimes the best choice.
I was so hoping at the end of this documentary I would see Jimmy come home.. 😢
FREE HIM!!!!
Totally biased. There's nothing about Scott admitting to pulling sandbags from the levee, supposedly to move them to a "weak spot" he had noticed . . . on his own, with no permission and no expertise to judge the risk of failure. Arsonists are known to like to hang around and watch their fires, to "get off" on it. And where was Scott, a convicted arsonist, found when the levee broke? Standing there watching the break. I think the right guy is in jail, and he deserves to serve out his term.
He did it. Let him rot in jail.
This is insane just goes to show you how corrupt the government is F the judge and the guy and people who claimed government relief because they needed a scapegoat to claim the money etc etc
If he caused it, how is a NATURAL disaster?
How the hell are you gonna defend stealing a man's life away for CIRCUMSTANTIAL EVIDENCE?
Free James Scott
Everyone always tries to make themselves out to be the innocent logical person whose heart was in the right place. Sure… There are multiple incompetent and criminal people involved in this case. Scott is a repeat offender. Hes not an innocent decent person. The problem with people that get caught and convicted is that it's usually the dumber criminals that get caught at all and if they do admit guilt, which they never do, they will then try to tell you it's their first and only offense, which is simply never true. It's like some person who gets a speeding ticket saying that's the only time in their life they ever exceeded the speed limit. It's simply BS. Most people convicted of any single major crime have perpetrated multiple crimes they were never caught for doing and they were never sorry when they did ANY of those many crimes, only when they finally get caught are they sorry and only sorry for being caught. So, this guy Scott isn't some innocent victim and it's not unrealistic that he would be a logical suspect for the police. He flushed his own credibility down the toilet long ago so I'm not buying his innocent act at all.
Having said that, he may not have committed this particular crime because the cops, the DA office and the judge in this case are mostly arrogant imbeciles that were not fair, intelligent, competent or honest in the performance of their duties. The sad commentary on America is that you don't really need to be intelligent, fair, competent or honest to be work in law enforcement or hold public offense. There are no real standards. Dumb, incompetent and dishonest people serve at all levels of law enforcement and the judiciary and government. Many innocent people are wrongly convicted by these crooks and imbeciles every single day all across America. The truth of the matter is that the jails and prisons are full of many innocent people…but they are also full of many lying guilty criminals and repeat offenders too. The truth of the matter is also that many lying criminal weasels are never ever convicted of any crime, especially if they serve in law enforcement or the judiciary or the government. So, when people try to point and say "It's those bad people again…" well really? Which ones? There are just so many of them on both sides of the badge that it's hard to be sure who the real innocent competent decent people are in a situation like this. I think that is a very sad but honest observation about America right there, one that most people won't ever admit. We are really a nation of dishonest weasels. And yeah, occasionally there is a decent person that isn't trying to take advantage of other people out there, but that's the one unicorn in a herd of jack asses. The odd man out.
Free that man!
People are snakes when money is on the line
So nobody is sure he did it, there is no evidence he did it and still they take away his entire life..
The way the judge talked to him and made disgusting remarks about being arroused about it without any proof..
This world is run by monsters on all the highest places, destroying everything on this planet.
tell me theyve tried the innocence project
Jesus that judge was disgusting. Not only did he assume he did it but threw it out there that he might of done it for sexual arousal. And that old lady that said “hang him in the nearest tree and lets go to lunch after” is beyond filthy and evil. If she passed away already i hope she’s burning in hell for that they all just assume he was guilty over stuff he did as a child and had no evidence. The cops just wanted to close the case they dint care weather or not there was a chance he was innocent.