Just read about Joe Arridy's case and I'm still processing it. The whole story is absolutely devastating.

So back in 1936, Colorado was in panic mode after a brutal crime. Authorities needed a quick solve, and Joe Arridy became their answer — a young man with an IQ of 46 who basically couldn't say no to anyone. No fingerprints. No witnesses. Nothing actually linking him to the scene. But they got a confession anyway, and that was enough.

Here's what gets me: Joe didn't even understand what was happening to him. He didn't know what trial meant, didn't grasp execution. He just kept smiling at everyone because that's who he was. Even when they led him to the gas chamber in 1939, he was still smiling. The guards were literally crying.

And then — plot twist that's not actually a twist — the real killer was caught later. By then Joe Arridy had already been executed. Gone. For a crime he never committed and couldn't even comprehend.

It took until 2011 for Colorado to officially pardon him. 72 years later. Seventy-two years of being dead for something he didn't do. A pardon that came way too late for Joe Arridy to ever know about it.

This case stays with me because it shows exactly what happens when the system fails the people who can't defend themselves. Joe Arridy deserved better. We all do.