By Aaron Fennell-Chametzky

After nine long years of sitting around and aging, O.J. Simpson could finally get on parole. For those of you who don’t know who O.J. is, he was one of the greatest running backs in NFL history who played for a solid decade (1969-79) and won the Most Valuable Player Award in 1973 while playing for the Buffalo Bills. Nicknamed “The Juice,” Simpson became one of the most popular athletes in the United States and was a celebrity, playing parts in movies such as The Towering Inferno from 1974 and The Naked Gun from 1988, as well as its two sequels. In 1994, his career took a downturn as O.J. was caught by police fleeing from the murder scene of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ron Goldman. The next year, he was put on the “Trial of the Century,” followed by millions of people around the world. Simpson’s defense team, the “Dream Team,” was led by Johnnie Cochran and Robert Kardashian (father to Kourtney, Kim, Khloe, and Rob); the prosecution was led by Marcia Clark and Christopher Darden. On October 3, 1995, Simpson was found innocent of murder after eleven months of bitter debate. The next decade saw O.J. venture into reality TV with a prank show called Juiced. However, in 2008, O.J. went to jail for robbery.

Since this is the year O.J. can get out of prison, a recent storm has been brewing about him and the trial. Last year alone three specials about Simpson on TV- O.J. Simpson Trial: The Real Story, O.J.: Made in America, and The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story. Made in America went on to win Best Documentary at the Academy Awards earlier this year. Ziad Hasabrabu, a freshman at West High School, said, “I liked it (Made in America) because it showed what inside a courtroom is really like and had the hard process of deciding on a verdict featured.” On the subject of whether O.J. should be released from jail, Hasabrabu ‘20 said, “Yeah, I think he should be. American’s tax money is being wasted on people like O.J. who we don’t even know; it’s time that he should get out.”

Demitrick Byars, ‘20, agrees with Hasabrabu. “You know, everybody deserves a second chance.” A second chance.

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