A vastly accepted principle of the justice system is that bringing the guilty perpetrators to justice. Consequently, the danger of a guilty person remaining free dominated public attention (Bjerk & Helland, 2018). However, the justice system has been flawed for robbing of life experiences and freedom of wrongfully convicted individuals (Gould & Leo, 2010). The flaws in the justice system have attracted public opinion and research interest. Empirical interest in wrongful convictions dates back to research work by Borchard (1932). The introduction of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) testing technology in the justice system brought to light the flaws in the system by revealing the innocence of convicts in prison with some serving death or life sentences (Bjerk & Helland, 2018). Wrongful convictions occur when factually innocent persons are convicted of crimes; a miscarriage in the justice system. The handful convictions of innocent persons challenges the efficacy of the US justice system.
The National Registry of Exonerations (2019) records 2439 exonerations in the US between 1989 and 2019, equivalent to more than 21290 years lost by the innocent convicts. While non-DNA exonerations amounted to 1895, DNA exonerations accounted for 484 cases. Homicide cases are the leading cases of exonerations which amounted to 945 cases, sexual assault, 322 cases, child sex abuse; 266 cases and other 846 cases. The increasing prevalence of exonerations in the US has attracted both public, academia and policy interest as people push for an infallible justice system. While recent strand of literature has been case studies (qualitative research), another strand of literature has focused on regression analysis of multiple cases (quantitative research).
Another line of research has focused on the causes of wrongful convictions. Smith & Hattery (2011) and the consequences of wrongful convictions (Zalman et al., 2012). Smith & Hattery (2011)) identified false or coerced confessions; class and race; careless forensic work; mistaken eyewitness testimony; unethical police and prosecutor...
Wrongful Conviction textbook, compare problems wrongful conviction Canada, United States, United Kingdom. What similarities differences? Discuss Wrongful Convictions in the International Context In spite of the fact that the law system has experienced much progress in the recent years, wrongful convictions continue to occur as lawmen encounter impediments and are unable to use the law properly. It often happens for people who are innocent to be convicted on account of an
Troy Davis and the Lessons of DNA Exonerations Wrongful Convictions The Case of Troy Davis: What DNA Exonerations Can Teach Us about Wrongful Convictions When someone is wrongfully convicted of a crime they lose years of their lives to unjust sanctions, the perpetrator is free to continue victimizing others, and if it happens too often society loses faith in the criminal justice system. With the advent of DNA analysis some of this faith
Safeguarding the criminal justice system from wrongful convictions through an efficient innocence program � policy evaluation proposalExecutive summaryConvicting innocent people is a global concern. The problem has been brought to the fore in the US through DNA tests that have proven the innocence of some of the people already serving jail terms. So far, up to 138 people have been exonerated of the crimes they were accused and convicted of.
Juvenile Interrogations and the Exonerated Five: An Examination of Wrongful ConvictionsThe Exonerated Five, formerly the Central Park Five, exemplifies the dire consequences of wrongful juvenile interrogations. In 1989, Kevin Richardson, Raymond Santana, Antron McCray, Yusef Salaam, and Korey Wise, Black and Latino teenagers, were unjustly accused and imprisoned for a crime they did not commit�the brutal assault and rape of a Central Park jogger.The case of the Exonerated Five gained
" This article puts forward the notion that when analyzing the "...relationships between minority groups and mainstream populations," the issue of whether the use of "formal control is applied fairly and consistently between these different groups" is a pivotal place to begin (Ruddell, et al., 2004). It is pivotal because "injustice" not only can have "a corrosive effect" on the perception of the fairness (or unfairness) of the criminal justice system;
For such individual dog fighting is an activity like craps or dice and just another way of scratching out a dollar. The negative features attached to such activity by whites unaccustomed to it are not realized by the black community (Laucella, 2010). Therein, is the problem that occurs in surveys of this nature. The life circumstances of whites and non-whites vary to such significant degree that comparisons of their
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