Wrongful Convictions and the DNA Revolution

Wrongful Convictions and the DNA Revolution

Author: Daniel S. Medwed

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2017-03-30

Total Pages: 441

ISBN-13: 1107129966

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This book examines the lessons learned from twenty-five years of using DNA to free innocent prisoners and identifies lingering challenges.


Book Synopsis Wrongful Convictions and the DNA Revolution by : Daniel S. Medwed

Download or read book Wrongful Convictions and the DNA Revolution written by Daniel S. Medwed and published by Cambridge University Press. This book was released on 2017-03-30 with total page 441 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the lessons learned from twenty-five years of using DNA to free innocent prisoners and identifies lingering challenges.


Wrongful Convictions and the DNA Revolution

Wrongful Convictions and the DNA Revolution

Author: Daniel S. Medwed

Publisher:

Published: 2017

Total Pages: 442

ISBN-13: 9781108139397

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This book examines the lessons learned from twenty-five years of using DNA to free innocent prisoners and identifies lingering challenges


Book Synopsis Wrongful Convictions and the DNA Revolution by : Daniel S. Medwed

Download or read book Wrongful Convictions and the DNA Revolution written by Daniel S. Medwed and published by . This book was released on 2017 with total page 442 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book examines the lessons learned from twenty-five years of using DNA to free innocent prisoners and identifies lingering challenges


Convicting the Innocent

Convicting the Innocent

Author: Brandon L. Garrett

Publisher: Harvard University Press

Published: 2011-08-04

Total Pages: 376

ISBN-13: 0674060989

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On January 20, 1984, Earl Washington—defended for all of forty minutes by a lawyer who had never tried a death penalty case—was found guilty of rape and murder in the state of Virginia and sentenced to death. After nine years on death row, DNA testing cast doubt on his conviction and saved his life. However, he spent another eight years in prison before more sophisticated DNA technology proved his innocence and convicted the guilty man. DNA exonerations have shattered confidence in the criminal justice system by exposing how often we have convicted the innocent and let the guilty walk free. In this unsettling in-depth analysis, Brandon Garrett examines what went wrong in the cases of the first 250 wrongfully convicted people to be exonerated by DNA testing. Based on trial transcripts, Garrett’s investigation into the causes of wrongful convictions reveals larger patterns of incompetence, abuse, and error. Evidence corrupted by suggestive eyewitness procedures, coercive interrogations, unsound and unreliable forensics, shoddy investigative practices, cognitive bias, and poor lawyering illustrates the weaknesses built into our current criminal justice system. Garrett proposes practical reforms that rely more on documented, recorded, and audited evidence, and less on fallible human memory. Very few crimes committed in the United States involve biological evidence that can be tested using DNA. How many unjust convictions are there that we will never discover? Convicting the Innocent makes a powerful case for systemic reforms to improve the accuracy of all criminal cases.


Book Synopsis Convicting the Innocent by : Brandon L. Garrett

Download or read book Convicting the Innocent written by Brandon L. Garrett and published by Harvard University Press. This book was released on 2011-08-04 with total page 376 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On January 20, 1984, Earl Washington—defended for all of forty minutes by a lawyer who had never tried a death penalty case—was found guilty of rape and murder in the state of Virginia and sentenced to death. After nine years on death row, DNA testing cast doubt on his conviction and saved his life. However, he spent another eight years in prison before more sophisticated DNA technology proved his innocence and convicted the guilty man. DNA exonerations have shattered confidence in the criminal justice system by exposing how often we have convicted the innocent and let the guilty walk free. In this unsettling in-depth analysis, Brandon Garrett examines what went wrong in the cases of the first 250 wrongfully convicted people to be exonerated by DNA testing. Based on trial transcripts, Garrett’s investigation into the causes of wrongful convictions reveals larger patterns of incompetence, abuse, and error. Evidence corrupted by suggestive eyewitness procedures, coercive interrogations, unsound and unreliable forensics, shoddy investigative practices, cognitive bias, and poor lawyering illustrates the weaknesses built into our current criminal justice system. Garrett proposes practical reforms that rely more on documented, recorded, and audited evidence, and less on fallible human memory. Very few crimes committed in the United States involve biological evidence that can be tested using DNA. How many unjust convictions are there that we will never discover? Convicting the Innocent makes a powerful case for systemic reforms to improve the accuracy of all criminal cases.


Controversies in Innocence Cases in America

Controversies in Innocence Cases in America

Author: Ms Sarah Lucy Cooper

Publisher: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.

Published: 2014-05-28

Total Pages: 247

ISBN-13: 1409463540

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This volume brings together leading experts on the investigation, litigation and scholarly analysis of innocence cases in America, from legal, political and ethical perspectives. The contributors consider the challenges faced by the exoneration movement, causes of wrongful convictions, problems associated with investigating, proving, and defining ‘innocence’, and theories of reform. These issues are investigated from a multi-disciplinary perspective and with the aim of improving the American criminal justice system when it is faced with its most harrowing sight: an innocent defendant.


Book Synopsis Controversies in Innocence Cases in America by : Ms Sarah Lucy Cooper

Download or read book Controversies in Innocence Cases in America written by Ms Sarah Lucy Cooper and published by Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.. This book was released on 2014-05-28 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume brings together leading experts on the investigation, litigation and scholarly analysis of innocence cases in America, from legal, political and ethical perspectives. The contributors consider the challenges faced by the exoneration movement, causes of wrongful convictions, problems associated with investigating, proving, and defining ‘innocence’, and theories of reform. These issues are investigated from a multi-disciplinary perspective and with the aim of improving the American criminal justice system when it is faced with its most harrowing sight: an innocent defendant.


The New Criminal Justice Thinking

The New Criminal Justice Thinking

Author: Sharon Dolovich

Publisher: NYU Press

Published: 2017-03-28

Total Pages: 356

ISBN-13: 1479831549

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A vital collection for reforming criminal justice After five decades of punitive expansion, the entire U.S. criminal justice system— mass incarceration, the War on Drugs, police practices, the treatment of juveniles and the mentally ill, glaring racial disparity, the death penalty and more — faces challenging questions. What exactly is criminal justice? How much of it is a system of law and how much is a collection of situational social practices? What roles do the Constitution and the Supreme Court play? How do race and gender shape outcomes? How does change happen, and what changes or adaptations should be pursued? The New Criminal Justice Thinking addresses the challenges of this historic moment by asking essential theoretical and practical questions about how the criminal system operates. In this thorough and thoughtful volume, scholars from across the disciplines of legal theory, sociology, criminology, Critical Race Theory, and organizational theory offer crucial insights into how the criminal system works in both theory and practice. By engaging both classic issues and new understandings, this volume offers a comprehensive framework for thinking about the modern justice system. For those interested in criminal law and justice, The New Criminal Justice Thinking offers a profound discussion of the complexities of our deeply flawed criminal justice system, complexities that neither legal theory nor social science can answer alone.


Book Synopsis The New Criminal Justice Thinking by : Sharon Dolovich

Download or read book The New Criminal Justice Thinking written by Sharon Dolovich and published by NYU Press. This book was released on 2017-03-28 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A vital collection for reforming criminal justice After five decades of punitive expansion, the entire U.S. criminal justice system— mass incarceration, the War on Drugs, police practices, the treatment of juveniles and the mentally ill, glaring racial disparity, the death penalty and more — faces challenging questions. What exactly is criminal justice? How much of it is a system of law and how much is a collection of situational social practices? What roles do the Constitution and the Supreme Court play? How do race and gender shape outcomes? How does change happen, and what changes or adaptations should be pursued? The New Criminal Justice Thinking addresses the challenges of this historic moment by asking essential theoretical and practical questions about how the criminal system operates. In this thorough and thoughtful volume, scholars from across the disciplines of legal theory, sociology, criminology, Critical Race Theory, and organizational theory offer crucial insights into how the criminal system works in both theory and practice. By engaging both classic issues and new understandings, this volume offers a comprehensive framework for thinking about the modern justice system. For those interested in criminal law and justice, The New Criminal Justice Thinking offers a profound discussion of the complexities of our deeply flawed criminal justice system, complexities that neither legal theory nor social science can answer alone.


The Wrongful Convictions Reader

The Wrongful Convictions Reader

Author: Russell D. Covey

Publisher: Carolina Academic Press LLC

Published: 2022

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781531023874

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Fueled by more than 2,000 exonerations of wrongfully convicted men and women, the "innocence revolution" has shaken the criminal justice system to its core. By gathering the leading research, law, and policy analysis into one volume, The Wrongful Convictions Reader explores the core contributing factors to wrongful convictions: false confessions, witness misidentifications, cognitive bias, junk science, police and prosecutorial misconduct, racial bias, and ineffective assistance of counsel. The second edition provides an expanded treatment of certain critical topics. The reader now includes an entire chapter devoted to race and wrongful convictions and provides expanded treatment of the intersections between gender, sexual orientation, and disability and wrongful conviction. The addition of these topics in expanded form creates new options for instructors to explore timely topics in the field of compelling concern to many contemporary students. As before, the book remains more than a mere 'reader' of literature in the field, but rather a book that can serve as the principal text in doctrinal as well as experiential courses. Each chapter is divided into three sections that include: readings, current law overview--which summarizes the key cases in the area; and legal materials, exercises, and media--which provides relevant experiential activities. Examples from the legal materials, exercises, and media sections includes: Recommended listening and viewing: timed excerpts from podcast episodes, films, and television clips; Oral advocacy exercises: mock bail arguments, parole hearings, testimony before the state legislature, presentations to the state rules committee, appellate oral arguments; Written advocacy exercises: practice motions and comparing state statutes; Issue spotting exercises: transcripts from interrogations and in-court testimony; Review: reflective essays, short answer questions, and true/false questions; Team exercises: plea negotiations; Discussion prompts; and Actual wrongful conviction case documents.


Book Synopsis The Wrongful Convictions Reader by : Russell D. Covey

Download or read book The Wrongful Convictions Reader written by Russell D. Covey and published by Carolina Academic Press LLC. This book was released on 2022 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Fueled by more than 2,000 exonerations of wrongfully convicted men and women, the "innocence revolution" has shaken the criminal justice system to its core. By gathering the leading research, law, and policy analysis into one volume, The Wrongful Convictions Reader explores the core contributing factors to wrongful convictions: false confessions, witness misidentifications, cognitive bias, junk science, police and prosecutorial misconduct, racial bias, and ineffective assistance of counsel. The second edition provides an expanded treatment of certain critical topics. The reader now includes an entire chapter devoted to race and wrongful convictions and provides expanded treatment of the intersections between gender, sexual orientation, and disability and wrongful conviction. The addition of these topics in expanded form creates new options for instructors to explore timely topics in the field of compelling concern to many contemporary students. As before, the book remains more than a mere 'reader' of literature in the field, but rather a book that can serve as the principal text in doctrinal as well as experiential courses. Each chapter is divided into three sections that include: readings, current law overview--which summarizes the key cases in the area; and legal materials, exercises, and media--which provides relevant experiential activities. Examples from the legal materials, exercises, and media sections includes: Recommended listening and viewing: timed excerpts from podcast episodes, films, and television clips; Oral advocacy exercises: mock bail arguments, parole hearings, testimony before the state legislature, presentations to the state rules committee, appellate oral arguments; Written advocacy exercises: practice motions and comparing state statutes; Issue spotting exercises: transcripts from interrogations and in-court testimony; Review: reflective essays, short answer questions, and true/false questions; Team exercises: plea negotiations; Discussion prompts; and Actual wrongful conviction case documents.


Wrongful Conviction and Exoneration

Wrongful Conviction and Exoneration

Author: Lisa Idzikowski

Publisher: Greenhaven Publishing LLC

Published: 2019-07-15

Total Pages: 128

ISBN-13: 1534505172

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Since 1989, there have been over 2,200 exonerations in the United States. These have resulted from a number of factors, including the discovery of new evidence, perjury, false identification, and bad forensic evidence. Even when an individual is exonerated, is it possible to compensate them for their loss of time and money? This volume looks at the issue from varying perspectives, exploring causes of wrongful convictions, ways to increase exonerations for those who were unjustly imprisoned, strategies to decrease the number of wrongful convictions going forward, and appropriate compensation for those who have lost years of their lives.


Book Synopsis Wrongful Conviction and Exoneration by : Lisa Idzikowski

Download or read book Wrongful Conviction and Exoneration written by Lisa Idzikowski and published by Greenhaven Publishing LLC. This book was released on 2019-07-15 with total page 128 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Since 1989, there have been over 2,200 exonerations in the United States. These have resulted from a number of factors, including the discovery of new evidence, perjury, false identification, and bad forensic evidence. Even when an individual is exonerated, is it possible to compensate them for their loss of time and money? This volume looks at the issue from varying perspectives, exploring causes of wrongful convictions, ways to increase exonerations for those who were unjustly imprisoned, strategies to decrease the number of wrongful convictions going forward, and appropriate compensation for those who have lost years of their lives.


Actual Innocence

Actual Innocence

Author: Jim Dwyer

Publisher: Doubleday Books

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 314

ISBN-13: 038549341X

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Ten true tales of people falsely accused detail the flaws in the criminal justice system that landed these people in prison


Book Synopsis Actual Innocence by : Jim Dwyer

Download or read book Actual Innocence written by Jim Dwyer and published by Doubleday Books. This book was released on 2000 with total page 314 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Ten true tales of people falsely accused detail the flaws in the criminal justice system that landed these people in prison


Wrongful Convictions and Miscarriages of Justice

Wrongful Convictions and Miscarriages of Justice

Author: C. Ronald Huff

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 434

ISBN-13: 0415539935

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This volume brings together the world-class scholarship of 23 widely acclaimed and influential contributing authors from North America and Europe. The latest research is presented in 18 chapters focusing on the frequency, causes, and consequences of wrongful convictions and other miscarriages of justice and offering recommendations for both legal and public policy reforms that can help reduce the causes of these errors while protecting public safety as well.


Book Synopsis Wrongful Convictions and Miscarriages of Justice by : C. Ronald Huff

Download or read book Wrongful Convictions and Miscarriages of Justice written by C. Ronald Huff and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2013 with total page 434 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This volume brings together the world-class scholarship of 23 widely acclaimed and influential contributing authors from North America and Europe. The latest research is presented in 18 chapters focusing on the frequency, causes, and consequences of wrongful convictions and other miscarriages of justice and offering recommendations for both legal and public policy reforms that can help reduce the causes of these errors while protecting public safety as well.


WRONGFUL CONVICTION

WRONGFUL CONVICTION

Author: John A. Humphrey

Publisher: Charles C Thomas Publisher

Published: 2018-01-04

Total Pages: 262

ISBN-13: 0398092060

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The magnitude of wrongful conviction is increasing across the country and around the world, with individuals arrested, convicted, and incarcerated for extended periods of time. This book provides an understanding of legal remedies, organizational reforms, and policy changes that have been proposed and implemented. In various jurisdictions, these procedures reduce the likelihood of a wrongful conviction. Legal and organizational reforms and changes in criminal justice policy are considered at three key junctures of the process: (1) the investigation, evidence gathering, and forensic analysis, (2) prosecutorial decision-making, and (3) the judicial review and exoneration of a wrongfully convicted defendant. Each chapter opens with a wrongful case vignette that illustrates the reform strategies being considered. The investigatory process is studied on each case, and the police process is analyzed in detail. Part 1 includes the introductory chapter that provides an overview of wrongful convictions, and the investigatory process routinely employed to gather evidence and identify a suspect. The analysis of forensic evidence is explored, including the chain of custody, contamination of the evidence, misinterpretation, and the falsification of forensic reports. Part 2 focuses on the prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges and juries. Plea bargaining strategies, coaching witnesses, violations of the rules of discovery, use of jailhouse snitches, inadequate defense counseling, lack of preparation and adequate resources are examined. Part 3 analyzes the processes involved in the reversal of wrongful convictions, the judicial review, and obstacles encountered in the exoneration process. In addition, the authors provide a thorough analytical overview of the criminal justice processes involved in wrongful conviction and the reforms that are needed to prevent and reverse injustices. This book is an invaluable resource for prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, advocates for the wrongfully convicted, criminal justice policymakers, law and society, and will contribute to academic courses in the fields of criminology and justice.


Book Synopsis WRONGFUL CONVICTION by : John A. Humphrey

Download or read book WRONGFUL CONVICTION written by John A. Humphrey and published by Charles C Thomas Publisher. This book was released on 2018-01-04 with total page 262 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The magnitude of wrongful conviction is increasing across the country and around the world, with individuals arrested, convicted, and incarcerated for extended periods of time. This book provides an understanding of legal remedies, organizational reforms, and policy changes that have been proposed and implemented. In various jurisdictions, these procedures reduce the likelihood of a wrongful conviction. Legal and organizational reforms and changes in criminal justice policy are considered at three key junctures of the process: (1) the investigation, evidence gathering, and forensic analysis, (2) prosecutorial decision-making, and (3) the judicial review and exoneration of a wrongfully convicted defendant. Each chapter opens with a wrongful case vignette that illustrates the reform strategies being considered. The investigatory process is studied on each case, and the police process is analyzed in detail. Part 1 includes the introductory chapter that provides an overview of wrongful convictions, and the investigatory process routinely employed to gather evidence and identify a suspect. The analysis of forensic evidence is explored, including the chain of custody, contamination of the evidence, misinterpretation, and the falsification of forensic reports. Part 2 focuses on the prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges and juries. Plea bargaining strategies, coaching witnesses, violations of the rules of discovery, use of jailhouse snitches, inadequate defense counseling, lack of preparation and adequate resources are examined. Part 3 analyzes the processes involved in the reversal of wrongful convictions, the judicial review, and obstacles encountered in the exoneration process. In addition, the authors provide a thorough analytical overview of the criminal justice processes involved in wrongful conviction and the reforms that are needed to prevent and reverse injustices. This book is an invaluable resource for prosecutors, defense attorneys, judges, advocates for the wrongfully convicted, criminal justice policymakers, law and society, and will contribute to academic courses in the fields of criminology and justice.