Justice Has Been Served... Better Late Than Never

After 18 years of millions of supporters' efforts surrealistically being ignored by the American Justice System, the West Memphis Three have finally been released, acquitted of murder. Well, technically, they were forced to plead guilty to a lesser charge so they cannot sue the State of Arkansas, but they were released.

Tons of artists such as Pearl Jam (whose singer Eddie Vedder was in attendance accompanied by Johnny Depp, who has joined him in fund-raising concerts), the Dixie Chicks, X, Anthrax, and Sage Francis had publicly taken their side and asked for a new trial - and even less political acts such as My Chemical Romance, Soul Coughing and Mandy Moore went to Twitter to approve of the reversal.

Many books - including the seminal Devil's Knot by Mara Leveritt and WM3 member Damien Echols himself's Almost Home - as well as the documentary Paradise Lost by Joe Berlinger had brought the subject to light, but Vedder's and the Dixie Chicks' voices took it to the mainstream, raising funds for their new legal defense, which included DNA testing and countless hours of lawyers sifting through Arkansas paperwork.

Now comes the treacherous work, though, the flip-side, if you will: these kids had better walk straight for a long while, because hundreds of very public figures have put their asses and reputations on the line for them, and should one of them falter and lead a life of crime and get caught, the backlash/backfire could be grandiose; cries of ''they were criminals'' will erupt and might even affect the other two's lives as well.

So here begins the next biggest battle of their lives...