Life After Wrongful Conviction : An Article By Clow, Leach And Riocciadelli

Even for those justly convicted, are usually still under high amounts of stress, etc. due to their impending deaths.

Wrongful convictions are common in the court-system. In fact, wrongful convictions are not the rare events that you see or hear on televisions shows, but are very common. They stem from some sort of systematic defect that lead to wrongful convictions such as, eyewitness misidentification testimony, unvalidated or improper forensic science, false confessions and incriminating statements, DNA lab errors, false confessions, and informants (2014). Bringing awareness to all these systematic defects, which result in wrongful, is important because it will better adjust the system to avoid making the same mistakes with future cases. However, false confession is not a systematic defect. It does not occur because files were misplaced or a lab technician put one too many drops. False confessions occur because of some of psychological attempt to protect oneself and their family. Thus, the courts responsibility should be to reduce these false confessions.

Wrongful conviction is an issue that has plagued the Canadian Justice System since it came to be. It is an issue that is hard to sort out between horrific crimes and society’s desire to find truth and justice. Incidences of wrongful conviction hit close to home right here in Saskatchewan as well as across the entire nation. Experts claim “each miscarriage of justice, however, deals a blow to society’s confidence in the legal justice system” (Schmalleger, Volk, 2014, 131). Professionals in the criminal justice field such as police, forensic analyst, and prosecutors must all be held accountable for their implications in wrongful convictions. There are several reasons for wrongful convictions such as racial bias, false confessions, jailhouse

This paper takes a leap into the corrupted side of the criminal justice system. After analyzing several articles regarding wrongful conviction cases in the Unites States, it is apparent that wrongful conviction cases occur more often than society believed. It has come to surface in recent years that wrongful convictions are a big problem with our criminal justice system. Researchers have discovered the causes of wrongful convictions to be bad lawyering, government misconduct, informants, false confessions, flawed forensic science and eyewitness error. Furthermore, this paper explores the affects victims face due to a wrongful conviction. As society has begun to steadily realize that miscarriage of justice is a possibility, researchers have considered reforms to the criminal justice system.

There are many prisoners sitting in prison today for a crime not committed by them. Sometimes, the law rushes into convictions before getting complete facts. Maybe a small town needed revenge which could lead to a wrong conviction. It could be from “ignorance of the law”. Most are not aware of their rights and what could be said that might falsely incriminate a person. There are also the forced confessions by police who threaten or use scare tactics to get a false confession. Most wrongfully convicted are sitting in prison for witness misidentification. Police not taking the time to get actual proof of guilt have ruined innocent lives. Is it fair for a person to serve time for a crime they did not commit? Why is a person still serving

The United States prides itself on having robust, deeply entrenched measures implemented across its core agencies, including the police and criminal justice system, to safeguard against wrongfully convicting people who, after further reflection, are factually found to be innocent. As citizens, we have been educated to trust, among other things, that our systems protect the notions that one is innocent until proven guilty and that prosecution must prove any charges beyond a reasonable doubt. Yet, wrongful convictions are more prevalent than we might think. In particular, the publicity of hundreds of cases over the last few decades has put a spotlight on this indisputable

Wrongful convictions occur when innocent defendants are found guilty in a criminal trial; When people are wrongfully convicted, they spend part of their life in prison while the criminal is free of punishment. The world has two million citizens incarcerated, about 20,000 people punished for crimes they did not commit (Ferner). Two thousand people are punished for crimes they did not commit, that is not a small number, so why do wrongful convictions occur? Wrongful convictions can occur for various reasons; the common causes are eyewitness misidentification, unvalidated or improper forensics science, false confessions, government misconduct, unprofessional lawyering, and informants or snitches.

In many countries across the world people are wrongfully convicted by a system whose sole purpose is to protects its citizens. Wrongful convictions are a grave miscarriage of justice. A report Published by Nation Registry of Exonerations stated that 149 people were cleared in 2015 for crimes that they did not commit in the United States (Ferner, 2016), this number is staggering. Also, in Japan 162 wrongful convicted between 1910 and 2010 (Johnson, 2015). With that said, a lot of people is being detained for crimes they did not commit in every region of the world, meanwhile the real culprits are left to roam freely. Common reasons for wrongful conviction in the United states and Japan are harsh and long interrogations, witness identification, errors or misconduct of the law enforcement and jailhouse informants also known as snitches, but mostly lack of DNA evidences. Even though, these countries have constitutional rights for its citizens, the reasons for wrongful convictions are similar.

Since 1923, when Judge Learned Hand said that the American judicial system “has always been haunted by the ghost of the innocent man convicted,” the issue of wrongful conviction has been acknowledged to man (Halstead, 1992; Huff, Rattner, Sagarin, & MacNamara, 1986). After the judge made his innocuous statements, serious study of this phenomenon began. Contrary to the statement the judge made, time and technology have revealed that an unquantifiable number of wrongfully convicted persons have served prison terms and even been executed for crimes they did not commit and some that did not even occur. Research into wrongful conviction was virtually nonexistent until Professor Edward Brochard of Yale University published his book Convicting the Innocent in 1932. This book documented 65 such cases, addressed the legal causes of miscarriage, and offered suggestions to reform. Subsequently, numerous other researchers began conducting case studies and publishing findings that affirmed that wrongful conviction represents a systematic problem within the American judicial process (Huff, 2002).

“Ex-felons suffer for a lifetime for decisions that they made in the spur of the moment” (Tracy Andrus). Imagine being judged for a mistake that was made in the past, for an entire lifetime! Perfection is absolutely not any form of reality; everyone makes mistakes. Many people, for whatever reason or situation may have occurred, have chosen to act upon something they regret later, but they do not need to suffer for the rest of their lives. Humanity has made various mistakes in the past and many people would proclaim that humans have learned and continues to learn from the mistakes made and adapt. However, no one person must be defined by one choice they regret making. A person needs to be able to have equal opportunities in life so that they

Thesis: Many people argue that ex-convicts should be labeled as criminals after time behind bars. Once a felon had paid his or her debt to society employment for ex-convicts shouldn’t be as difficult, voting rights should be regained, and with certain agreements accomplished to restore some freedom rights back, some ex-convicts should be allowed a second chance in society.

Since defense attorneys are often overworked and underpaid, I believe one of the first steps to be taken is reducing their hours so that they can devote more attention to each case. Additionally, since the leading cause of wrongful conviction cases is government misconduct, government officials should receive greater punishment for their actions as they have tremendous consequences on the lives of those wrongfully convicted. When it comes to adjusting to life after prison, there are several issues at hand. After exoneration, people face continual legal issues, have trouble gaining independence, lack direction, are not accustomed to the technology of the present day, and find it hard to move on without a formal apology (Westervelt & Cook, 2008). Moreover, according to Pager (2003), it is very difficult for people to get a job after prison, especially when intersected with the double jeopardy of race and class. Additionally, several states have criminal disenfranchisement laws, which take away the right to vote from those in the prison system (Uggen et al., 2005). In order to ease the transition after prison, employers should not discriminate against individuals with prior offenses, exonerees should be given formal apologies for their wrongful conviction, and people should be given mentorship, counseling, and help accustoming to modern technology. Finally, states should eliminate criminal disenfranchisement laws, as the laws further marginalize an already marginalized population and those involved with the prison system make up a significant block of the voting

The United States ranks number one in the world for most people in prison. Because America believes in rehabilitation for those who commit a crime, they sentence people to prison, jail or probation with a court ordered time to hopefully help people learn from their mistakes. Unfortunately, their biggest sentence is after they get out of prison. Felons are often discriminated against in society. Certainly, a society has the right to punish those who break the social contract. This follows from an Enlightenment theory, explored by Michel Foucault in Discipline and Punish, in which society takes on the role of the offended when a criminal violates the trust and insults the dignity of the community’s civil code (xxii).The felony charge eliminates so many possibilities and opportunities for many people. Society shouldnot discriminate against any race, gender, or even ex-offenders. After someone has served their due time, society should not make it any harder for one to create a stable life. Creating such a life is initially impossible with the obstacles you face as an adult plus the recognition of having a bashful record. Having a criminal record should not take away your freedom inside and out of prison. A person’s record follows them forever which never will lead to any chance of rehabilitation in the real world. Felons face all types of problems, i.e. discrimination, stereotypes and impossible clean slates.Once a felon commits a crime and serves his or her sentence, it is

Prosecutors can have the tendency to develop a fierce loyalty to a particular version of events, with a common loyalty to the guilt of a particular suspect which can lead to wrongful convictions.i Such loyalty can result in a refusal to consider alternative theories or suspects during the initial investigation.ii Professor Keith A. Findley describes tunnel vision as being, "the product of a variety of cognitive distortions, such as confirmation bias, and outcome bias, which can impede accuracy in what we perceive and in how we interpret what we perceive."iii Similar factors that play a role in wrongful convictions include: selective information processing, which is the motivation to defend one’s beliefs in the face of conflicting evidence,