Commonwealth Vs Wright Case

In 1991, an African American man named Anthony Wright confessed to the rape, robbery, and brutal murder of a 77-year-old woman. However, he later retracted his confession, asserting that it had been coerced by police, and requested DNA testing on the evidence prove his innocence. Despite his ardent attempts to reclaim his innocence, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania rejected the request based on the simple fact that he had previously confessed to the crime, which therefore prevented him from being able to claim his innocence (Commonwealth v. Wright, 2007). On behalf of Wright’s case, in 2008 the American Psychological Association filed an amicus curiae brief that described the many possible causes of false confessions and their role in wrongful convictions. In 2011, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania recognized that, although a confession may be admitted during trial, it does not necessarily mean that the confession was true. Along with this recognition, Wright’s case was sent back down to the lower court to determine whether DNA testing could bring to light exculpatory evidence that could help to

Minority groups, such as African Americans, have long experienced injustices within the criminal justice system. Although we have indeed seen a substantial reduction in overt racial prejudice over the last half-century, racial inequality within the criminal justice system is far from extinct. Over the course of the criminal justice system in the United States, African Americans have been unjustly profiled, pursued, and unlawfully convicted. While not discounting the progress that has been made in the treatment of African Americans, it is important to keep in mind that discrimination is still present. Further, racial biases are likely to exist outside of the White-Black dynamic, which is a question that should be addressed in future