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Wrongful convictions affecting the criminal justice system
Wrongful convictions affecting the criminal justice system
Wrongful convictions affecting the criminal justice system
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Wrongful Convictions Introduction There is no true way to know the amount of individuals who have been wrongfully convicted (Neubauer, 2011). Contrary to popular belief, justice and law are not coexisting (Gershman, 1993, pp. 502-515). Most individuals feel and believe that the Criminal Justice System would have steps in place to catch and rectify this issue (Neubauer, 2011). The advent of DNA testing not only generated more attention for, and research about wrongful convictions (Gould, 2010, pp. 825-868). This also pushed for academicians from simply research to a hybrid of research and advocacy’s (Gould, 2010, pp. 825-868). Virtually no one denies the existence of wrongful convictions (Gould, 2010, pp. 825-868). Wrongful convictions challenge the integrity and legitimacy of criminal justice and call out for solutions (Davis, 2007). It acts a policy change catalyst wrongful convictions are a research field that touches upon many disciplines (Davis, 2007). The pretrial processing of criminal defendant is extremely important because most criminal cases are resolved before trial (Stolzenberg, 2012). Body Advocacy for innocent Innocent networks are a recent phenomenon within the Criminal Justice System (Siegel, 2012). Their main purpose is to assist in the exoneration of those individuals who have been wrongly convicted (Siegel, 2012). Collectively, as an Innocent Network, they screen claims of innocence, work to exonerate the factually innocent, promote policies to reduce errors of justice, and provide support for exonerees (Siegel, 2012). A vast majority of these exonerations are for murder and rape cases (Siegel, 2012). And a majority has been successful through the use of DNA evidence (Siegel, 2012). The pressures to produce conv... ... middle of paper ... ...tandard for the Prosecutor's Exercise of the Charging Discretion. Fordham Urban Law Journal , 20, 513-530. Gould, J., & Leo, R. (2010). One Hundred Years Later: Wrongful Convictions After A Century of Research. The Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 100(3), 825-868. Leipold, A. (2005). How the Pretrial Process Contributes to Wrongful Convictions. American Criminal Law Revew, 42, 1123-1165. Neubauer, D., & Fradella, H. (2011). America's Court And The Criminal Justice System (11 ed.). Belmont, California: Wadsworth. Siegel, L., & Worrall, J. (2012). Introduction to Criminal Justice (14th ed.). Belmont, California: Wadsworth. Stolzenberg, L., & D'Alessio, S. (2012). Criminal Courts for the 21st Century (3rd ed.). Lexington, KY: Weston. Zalman, M., Larson, M., & Smith, B. (2012). Citizen's Attitudes Towards Wrongful Convictions. Criminal Justice Review, 37, 51-69.
Abadinsky, Howard. Law and Justice: An Introduction to the American Legal System. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2008. Print.
Seigal, L. J., & Worrall, J. L. (2012). Introduction to criminal justice (13th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Roberts, J. V., & Grossman, M. G. (2012). Why Say Sorry When I Didn't Do It? Remorse and the Dilemma of the Wrongfully Convicted. Criminal Justice in Canada: A Reader Fourth Edition. Toronto, Ontario, Canada: Nelson Education Ltd
Garrett, Brandon. Convicting the Innocent: Where Criminal Prosecutions Go Wrong. Cambridge, MA: Harvard UP, 2011. 86. Print.
The New York Times bestseller book titled Reasonable Doubts: The Criminal Justice System and the O.J. Simpson Case examines the O.J. Simpson criminal trial of the mid-1990s. The author, Alan M. Dershowitz, relates the Simpson case to the broad functions and perspectives of the American criminal justice system as a whole. A Harvard law school teacher at the time and one of the most renowned legal minds in the country, Dershowitz served as one of O.J. Simpson’s twelve defense lawyers during the trial. Dershowitz utilizes the Simpson case to illustrate how today’s criminal justice system operates and relates it to the misperceptions of the public. Many outside spectators of the case firmly believed that Simpson committed the crimes for which he was charged for. Therefore, much of the public was simply dumbfounded when Simpson was acquitted. Dershowitz attempts to explain why the jury acquitted Simpson by examining the entire American criminal justice system as a whole.
Wrongful convictions in Canada is a very sensitive and disturbing topic that has created concerns as to why individuals are being wrongfully convicted. As people in Canada read about cases involving wrongful conviction, such as Guy Paul Morin, Rubin Carter and David Millguard, it often undermines their faith in the criminal justice system. Tunnel vision, the use of questionable DNA evidence, and eyewitness misidentification are the three main causes of wrongful convictions in Canada. Recognizing and addressing these concerns has led to a reduction in cases of wrongful convictions in Canada.
Walsh, James, and Dan Browning. "Presumed Guilty Until Proved Innocent." Star Tribune (Minneapolis, MN). 23 Jul 2000: A1+. SIRS Issues Researcher.
Schmalleger, Frank, Criminal Justice A Brief Introduction, Upper Saddle River, NJ, Pearson Education Inc. , 2010, Page 387
Gaines, L.K., & Kaune, M., & Miller, R.L.(2000) Criminal Justice in Action. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
U.S. Department of Justice. 2002. “What is the Sequence of Events in the Criminal Justice System?”
Neubauer, D. W., & Fradella, H. F. (2011). America’s courts and the criminal justice system (10th ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Kalief Browder was a sixteen year old boy who was wrongfully accused of stealing a backpack. He spent three years in solitary confinement on Rikers Island before committing suicide in 2015. Kalief’s story truly upset me, and I wanted to learn why this had happened, and what I could possibly do to ensure this never happens again in the future. My first interests within wrongful conviction were racial bias, reform, and reparation. Questions formed in my mind such as: Why is there not better training towards prosecutors? How common are wrongful convictions? What is being done to combat this grievance? How are exonerees given the resources, if any, to restart their lives? And more specifically, what type of apology, if any, is made? I found it sickening that our law system is not doing anything substantial to shut down this issue. Therefore, I decided to pick wrongful conviction as my topic, and began my research. I read many articles, magazines, and a book about wrongful conviction. Also, I interviewed Colin Bowen, a criminal defense attorney in Oakland, California, and Rhonda Donato, a former attorney for the Innocence Project in Northern California. Despite a few nuances, such as Donato having to postpone our interview, both characters had much to say and much information about wrongful conviction. Through this project, I hope to share with the class the heartbreaking truth behind wrongful convictions, and inspire them to help make a difference. Wrongful convictions are brought about by many many different flaws in our criminal justice system, primarily erroneous eyewitness testimony, and racial stereotyping and systemic bias in the law enforcement
Twenty-three years and 873 exonerations is what this particular study is constructed of. One may ask themselves what race and gender is most prominent to being exonerated? According to the statistics in the study (), 93% observed exonerates were men and only 7% women. When considering race 92% of defendants were accounted for and 50% were black, 38% white, 11% Hispanic, and 2% Native American or Asian. ()
Throughout the criminal justice system, many errors and shortcomings have arisen. Major shortcomings are apparent in conducting investigations, reliability of eyewitnesses, interrogation techniques, and the inaccuracy of the jury system. Throughout the book, Dan Simon makes a clear argument by citing cases that were solved incorrectly due to one of these four shortcomings. DNA exonerations have revealed that some cases that seemed so simply due to witness identification or confession of guilt were mishandled, and therefore the incorrect person was incarcerated.
Legal Information Institute. (2010, August 9). Retrieved February 17, 2012, from Cornell University Law School: http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/criminal_law