Here’s a public apology of a different sort: Marty Stroud, former assistant district attorney in Caddo Parish, Louisiana, wrote a letter recently to the editor of the Shreveport Times, in which he apologizes for convicting Glenn Ford of first-degree murder in 1984. Mr. Ford served thirty years in prison before being released last year, but has been unable to collect compensation for his wrongful conviction. Mr. Stroud hopes his public letter will assist Mr. Ford in obtaining the compensation he deserves under Louisiana law.

Mr. Stroud acknowledges in his letter that he was “arrogant, judgmental, narcissistic and very full of myself” as a new d.a. when he prosecuted Mr. Ford, and that he was more interested in winning than in justice.

He told a Washington Post reporter, “When I started writing the letter, it was part of a cleansing process for me, stuff that had bothered me for years that I couldn’t put my finger on. It came out in this letter. The only regret that I have is that I didn’t come to this position much earlier in life.”

Adding to the weight of Mr. Stroud’s regret is the fact that Glenn Ford was sentenced to death, and served his time on death row. Mr. Stroud has concluded that imposing the death penalty in any case is wrong: “We are simply incapable of devising a system that can fairly and impartially impose a sentence of death because we are all fallible human beings.”

The apology, in my humble opinion, is a model of a sincere apology from a truly regretful man. He ends his letter expressing the hope that “providence” will have more mercy on him than he showed Glenn Ford, recognizing that he is undeserving of it. According to the Bible, that’s just the place our hearts need to be for God to forgive us and grant us mercy.