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The Pros And Cons Of Wrongful Conviction

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Wrongful convictions Unfortunately, wrongful convictions are a part of our society today and have been for a very long time. It seems as technology and science advances, more and more individuals are discovered to be wrongfully convicted. There are many things that can be done to prevent such a tragic act from happening because not only does it impact the individual, but it impacts an entire society.
This paper will discuss several approaches and changes to be made within the criminal justice system to combat this major problem. One statement I am baffled to learn is that though “race, wrongful convictions and exonerations are a major issue” (Smith & Hattery, 2011, p. 74) there is very little research that has been done about it and it has been entirely ignored by sociologists who study and research similar issues. In reality, this is very horrifying especially for someone who has a loved one wrongfully incarcerated. Future research on this topic is one suggestion of how the criminal justice system can regain strength for an important an ongoing issue.
Exonerations
A project of the Michigan law school and The National Registry of Exonerations (2016), defines exoneration as a person who has who has been “convicted of a crime and later was either: (1) declared to be factually innocent by a government official or agency with the authority …show more content…

It is important to remember that once a case has been filed with the district attorney it is a very complicated road moving forward, especially in high profile cases. Therefore, regardless of the offense, an individual’s overall criminal history should be reviewed. However, this process is for information purposes and should not be a factor when deciding if the offense will be deferred or adjudicated because many white collar criminals have little to no record at all, other than minor traffic

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Criminal trials are not perfect, but by requiring evidence beyond a reasonable doubt, they can prevent several miscarriages of justice. Considering that innocent individuals may arrive at trial for misidentification, police misconduct or simply being in the wrong place at the wrong time, these individuals are at a disadvantage since by being offered plea deals they avoid trial and avoid the burden of “ beyond a reasonable doubt,” required to be pronounced guilty. Thus, in a CJ system saturated with cases, plea bargains become a mechanism for prosecutors and defense attorneys to bypass trials. For defendants, the fear of incarceration and the unpredictability of juries or judges create the conditions of coercion that might persuade defendants to prefer plea deals over

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This allowed us to examine patterns beyond just the race of the exonoree…” (Smith & Hattery 2010) Examining the different cases that the Innocence Project has taken is a great resource because 209 out of 341 of exonerees were African American. Examining these cases would be extremely helpful when analyzing if race and socioeconomic status affect an individuals likelihood of being wrongfully

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Wrongful convictions are a problem that most government officials won’t admit. The United States and other countries such as Australia have been susceptible to these miscarriages of justice. This can arise from a snowball effect of scenarios such as witness misidentification, perjured testimonies, coercive methods of interrogation, prosecutorial misconduct and ineffective counsel. These are some of the reasons that can potentially lead innocent people to be convicted of crimes they did not commit. The thousands of exonerations in the United States has caused concern for other nations to reevaluate their criminal justice system.

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Her exoneration exposed the District Attorney’s office of their underlying corruption in office during the 1970’s. Her case shed light on possible other cases where convictions were based solely on eyewitness testimony or informants. Cheryle exoneration along with the other 2000 individuals released in the past 23 years has led to a spot light shine upon the injustices going on in this nation. The corruption in offices, the lack of effective counsel, speculation and assumptions made upon a person’s guilt or innocence and the power over another person’s life. There has been 2000 people that have been wrongfully convicted of a crime, they have lost their lives behind a huge miscarriage of justice.

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“This might be due to prejudice by police officers causes them to arrest African Americans more frequently thus over criminalizing African Americans” (Macionis, pg. 258). It was sad to see African Americans on every search page, but at the same time it is great to see the majority of them being exonerated. Even though, people of color make up 71% of the exonerees, approximately 60 percent of the victims in these cases were white. Furthermore, “whites accounted for 69.2 % of all arrests in 2011”, but a majority of the people who are incarcerated are people of color” (Macionis, pg. 257). Only .005% of the exonerees are of Asian descent and about 7% are of Latin descent.

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Coker gives great evidence that supports racial injustice in the criminal justice system. She discusses on the Supreme Court’s rulings and accusations of racial preference in the system. This article is helpful because it supports my thesis on race playing a role on the system of criminal justice. Hurwitz, J., & Peffley, M. (1997). Public perceptions of race and crime: The role of racial stereotypes.

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“Since 1973, more than 155 people have been released from death row with evidence of their innocence. (Staff Report, House Judiciary Subcommittee on Civil & Constitutional Rights, 1993, with updates by DPIC). From 1973-1999, there was an average of 3 exonerations per year. From 2000-2011, there was an average of 5 exonerations per year” (Facts). These numbers are astonishing considering the fact that Americans trust the judicial system to put the guilty people in prison, not the innocent ones.

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With millions of criminal convictions a year, more than two million people may end up behind bars(Gross). According to Samuel Gross reporter for The Washington Post, writes that also “even one percent amounts to tens of thousands of tragic [wrongful conviction] errors”(Gross). Citizens who are wrongfully convicted are incarcerated for a crime he or she did not commit. Many police officers, prosecutors, and judges are responsible for the verdict that puts innocents into prison. To be able to get exonerated many wait over a decade just to get there case looked at, not many are able to have the opportunity of getting out.

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Since the founding of our judicial system there have always been individuals claiming innocence to a crime that they have been found guilty of, traditionally, after their sentencing no matter how innocent they may or may not be would have to serve, live and possibly die by the decision of their peers. The Innocence Project, founded in 1992 by Barry C. Scheck alongside Peter J. Neufeld faces this issue by challenging the sentencing of convicted individuals who claim their innocence and have factual ground to stand upon. The Innocence Project uses the recent advances in deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) testing to prove their client’s innocence by using methods that were not available, too primitive or not provided to their clients during their investigation,

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The states that “This paper is not intended to definitively place all wrongful convictions as a state crime or harm. However, it follows the calls of Leo (2005), Siegel (2005), and Norris and Bonventre (2013) in providing theoretical grounding for wrongful conviction.” The author states since 1989, there has been over 1,300 exonerations. He further breaks down the data by stating that of the 1,300 exonerations, 37% of those were based on DNA evidence. While 1,300 exonerated individuals is a small margin of error for the criminal justice system that doesn’t mean that problem is not significant.

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While most of the unlawful conviction cases have been widely publicized, the general public remains alert and skeptical on how to properly address this new wave of challenges in our criminal justice system as a by-product of police brutality, junk science, eyewitness misidentification and much more. Limited policy adjustments have been implemented in the existing framework of conducting legal proceeding to indict criminal behaviors, nor have it provided adequate opportunities and resources for victims that fall under the wrongfully acquitted category. Current regulations for have strengths and flaws, which will be disclosed in this research. Exoneration, the contemporary legal approval from the judge and the court that indicates a defender

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The biggest issue within the Criminal Justice system is the large number of wrongful convictions, innocent people sentenced to die for crimes they did not commit. People are put in prison for years, even executed for false convictions. This affects not only those put in prison but friends and family of the accused. Wrongful convictions aren’t solely a tragedy for those directly involved either. It weakens the faith the public has for the justice system as well as poses safety issues; when innocent people are put away, the real criminals are still out there.

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A quantity of such cases have been operational in recent years, but they are irregular and prosperous only when the specific offence by criminal justice agencies can be proven and invulnerability defenses overcome. Wrongful conviction has become a protruding issue and the United States needs to find the scope of the problem, its causes, and ways to restructure proposals to maintain the justice system in the way it was intended to

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Today our justice system has a multitude of options when dealing with those who are convicted of offenses. However, many argue that retributive justice is the only real justice there is. This is mainly because its advantage is that it gives criminals the appropriate punishment that they deserve. The goals of this approach are clear and direct. In his book The Little Book of Restorative Justice, Zehr Howard (2002), illustrates that the central focus of retributive justice is offenders getting what they deserve (p. 30).

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Improved investigative procedure and a thorough collection of evidence, as well as the use of DNA testing in prosecuting the accused, must have greatly reduced these conviction errors. I think that our justice system is good enough. I mean, you are entitled to every rights to defend yourself; from the moment of your arrest until you are in prison. You have the right

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