The Problem with Race in Wrongful Conviction and Exonearation

The Problem with Race in Wrongful Conviction and Exoneration

Introduction

The main purpose of this article is to look at the possible link between race and exoneration, and how race and wrongful convictions lead to the exonerations. There were three reasons that the authors chose this topic to research. The first reason was the research previously done in the field show racial biased in the criminal justice system. This paper looks at how that effects wrongful conviction and the subsequent exoneration. The second reason is because if there is an innocent person in prison that means that the real culprit is still out there, and more than likely committing more crimes. The third reason is racial composition of the dyad, victim and the perpetrator. This article is the first to mention the dyad and the authors focus on that in their discussion of wrongful conviction. This article is a very insightful look at the problem of the racial bias in the system that leads to wrongful conviction and how that leads to exoneration. It effectively explains the causes of wrongful convictions and how race affects those causes, especially how the dyad is incorporated in it.

Summary

The article first section is about the people already fortunate enough to be exonerated. This article uses the 250 exonerations that were achieved by January 1, 2010 (as of November 19, 2013 there have been 311 exonerated). This article talks mostly about men since they are 90% of the exonerated are men. Similar to the percentage of the amount of men to women, about 75% of the exonerated are from minorities. The most common way the exonerates achieved their freedom was through DNA testing. Unfortunately not everyone has that avenue to pursue to prove the...

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...unlike the research, data, and conclusions so it complicated the over all understanding of the article. Most of the findings are to be expected, at least for someone in the Justice field. The fact the most homicides and rapes are intraracial is not something the general public always understands but most people in the field of Justice understand that fact. After I read this article I decided to look up the authors to see if there could have been so hidden bias. Earl Smith is an African American man and Angela Hattery is a white female. After I knew that I still did not believe there was any bias in the article. The only part that could have possible been biased on its emphasis was the fact the rape and homicide are intraracial crimes but there was clearly represented by the data so it still did not look like there was any bias in the conclusions.

Discussion