The Criminal Justice System Is Not A Problem That The Us And Other Countries

After Jennifer Thompson-Cannino was raped in 1984, she identified a man in a police lineup and in court as her attacker. The detective conducting the lineup told Jennifer that she had done great, confirming that she had chosen the suspect. Eleven years later, DNA evidence proved that the suspect, Ronald Cotton, had been wrongfully convicted of the rape. A man named Bobby Poole, who Thompson testified she had never seen before, was the man who actually raped her. Ronald and Jennifer's book, picking cotton, portrays common factors that contribute to erroneous convictions. Although it addresses a variety of important issues, the most crucial is how subtle factors like eyewitness misidentification, confirmation bias and nature of a defendant can

This past legislative session saw a major win for the wrongly convicted with H.B. 48. H.B. 48 creates a commission to review convictions after exoneration and aims to prevent wrongful conviction. This bill is a supported across the political spectrum on the part of author Ruth Jones McClendon (D) and Sen. Rodney Ellis (D) along with joint authors Rep. Jeff Leach (R), Rep. David Simpson (R), Rep. Abel Herrero (D), Rep. Joe Moody (D) and The Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for Effective Justice.

In order to comprehend the contribution of psychology to areas of criminal investigation it is important to evaluate research into two of the following areas of criminal investigation: eye witness testimony and offender profiling as well as assess the implications of the findings in the area of criminal investigation. In addition, this essay, with reference to relevant psychological research, discuss how the characteristics of the defendant may influence jury behaviour as well as analyse two psychological influences on the decision making process of juries. In order to improve the efficiency of detection and successful prosecution of crime it is important to underline that in a previous administration, detection of serious crime was poor and eyewitness testimony appeared very unreliable, partly due to standard interview techniques yielding confusing results. It is therefore this essays primary focus is to provide the chief constable with a report explaining how psychologists might be able to improve this situation with a full evaluation of process and evidence.

Almost every day, we hear about justice being served upon criminals and we, as a society, feel a sense of relief that another threat to the public has been sentenced to a term in prison, where they will no longer pose a risk to the world at large. However, there are very rare occasions where the integrity of the justice system gets skewed and people who should not have been convicted are made to serve heavy prison sentences. When word of this judicial misstep reaches the public, there is social outcry, and we begin to question the judicial system for committing such a serious faux pas.

This essay will explore how prosecutorial misconduct causes wrongful convictions in both the United States and Australia. This essay will also argue that rehabilitation and compensation should be provided by the state. A major flaw in the criminal justice system not only in the United States but also in Australia, is the failure to set forth a plan for the people who were exonerated to be accepted back into society. The lack of a plan for rehabilitation for the exonerated poses a problem for society since some might find it easier to find a job in prison then in the real world, this process makes it immensely difficult for prisoners to get acclimated back into society. The Australian Law Review Committee is an entity which evaluates and gives

In Ian McEwan’s Atonement, Michael Chabon’s Wonder Boys and Louise Erdrich’s The Round House the legal system fails to produce just outcomes. In Atonement one of the main characters, Robbie is convicted of raping a young girl, when in fact he is innocent. Despite only unsubstantiated evidence from a 13-year-old girl, he is convicted. Only after the judicial system had failed did the girl wish to recant her former account, but by then it was too late. “ If you were lying then, why should a court believe you now? There are no new facts, and you’re an unreliable witness” (McEwan 82). In this unjust sentencing of an innocent man, Atonement shows that not only does the legal system sometimes err, but that these errors are often particularly difficult to ameliorate. Unfortunately this is not an anomaly. One in nine people sentenced to death row were later exonerated showing that sometimes instead of being the solvency for wrongdoings, the legal system can be the source (Stevenson).

Forcelli explains his displeasure of our broken criminal justice system when he states, “The sad part is that getting an innocent man out of jail is way, way, way harder than putting a guilty man in jail.” When detectives are constantly pressured to close cases and produce high conviction rates it can cause in accuracies in convictions. Garry’s case is a perfect example of how a case with minimal evidence can result in an innocent getting placed in prison. Garry has sat in prison for over 20 years waiting to appeal his case and plead his innocence. The ease of convicting an innocent man should be consistent with difficulty of exonerating an innocent man. In Garry’s case he awaits a decision from a judge where the judge has three options, to exonerate him, grant a retrial, or

This flaw affects an individual’s life drastically because it causes them to loose so many years of their life behind prison bars for a crime they did not commit. There are many reasons for why the Canadian Court system has the flaw of wrongful convictions such as: eyewitness misidentification, where the witness may claim to have seen something but their minds understand the situations wrongs, or like in Milgaard’s case, witnesses may give false eyewitness identification, just like John did, stating he had seen Milgaard stab the nurse. Error in forensic science is another reason for wrongful convictions. Just like in Truscott’s case, during the time, there was not enough science knowledge to investigate Lynne Harper’s body, and the found information was false evidence. False testimony is a major factor in wrongful convictions because when someone gives false testimonies, they make the case even more difficult for the wrongly accused person. In Milgaard's case, his friends who gave false testimony, switching up the story of what had actually happened the night of the murder, was a major reason why Milgaard had to serve sentence for a crime he did not commit. Tunnel vision was a major factor in Truscott’s case that caused him to be sentenced. The police only focused on him as a suspect and did not regard anything else or try to investigate upon anything

The Criminal Justice system of Texas, while functional and stable, has had flaws that have cost some individuals years of their lives by serving a sentence in jail or being charged with the death penalty. Errors in the justice system are to be expected as the legal system is not perfect, and cases can be treated in a variety of ways depending on how an investigation is run and what a judge and jury decide in a trial. As Texas has the highest amount of exonerations in the country, there is high reason to believe that some reform must be made to the system. With an emphasis on more effective and credible manners of investigation for evidence, cases can be reviewed with forensic evidence and witness testimonies. With the use of both types of

Wrongful convictions aren't solely a tragedy for those directly involved. When innocent people are behind bars, the real criminals are still on the street committing crimes. Over the last century, considerable research has been conducted on wrongful convictions, not only uncovering the most common factors but also recommending remedies for the sources of wrongful convictions. Innocent people are being convicted of crimes that they have not committed. These serious

It has been reported that millions of crimes is committed in the United States of America which violates and harms the individual rights, properties, and freedoms that are not only guaranteed to American citizens of this country. It has been highlighted that justice is dealt with according to the crimes committed based on the findings and principles of our country, which derived from the Constitution of the United States. While it has been argued justice may not always be fair due to certain rights given to those who may be charged with crime sometimes an error is made. A simple mistake, a missing or broken link in the chain that represents the investigation and trial processes causes an innocent bystander to become caught up in an investigation. More importantly, in many cases can result in a wrongful conviction. This error can rise from many forms like a mistaken eyewitness identification, a false confession, misconduct of the governing authorities, improper forensic investigation, or including staff that neglect to make efforts or unskilled litigation by the defense attorneys. Those whom are affected endure years in prison, deal with lost wages, isolation from friends and family, scrutiny from potential employers, and isolation from their community.

Our criminal justice system has over time implemented and changed the means of sentencing and punishment for crimes. In the United States plea deals are accountable for 90% of criminal cases. A plea deal is an agreement between prosecutor and defendant in whom the defendant accepts a guilty plea to a charge and in return receives some type of concession from the prosecution. As we have moved forward in the judicial system and now have the ability to look back on previous cases, plea deals have become more controversial. The majority of awareness in this area has been used to look deeper into false confessions, grazing right over the fact that false confessions are a large part plea deals. A controversy arose when many refused to believe that situational factors during interrogations and dispositional factors inherent to the suspects could result in false confessions. (Redlich, 2010)

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).

The concept that one is innocent until proven guilty has been long debated within the contexts of the judicial system. But to what degree does one become guilty? How much guilt determines a lack of innocence? What happens when the people begin to favor a small portion of evidence over a larger amount of truth? Today, many people follow English Jurist William Blackstone’s belief that “It is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer.”(Blackstone). Blackstone touches on the immortality of wrongly convicting someone, while also hinting at the idea that if someone is wrongly convicted, the criminal is already free. However, The American Criminal Justice System continues to make wrongful convictions as innocents are commonly compelled to serve a punishment for an uncommitted crime. “Unless specified by the court, parole eligibility takes place when one third of the time has already been served in prison.”(“USDOJ: USPC: Answering Your Questions.") In most cases, prisoners are offered the plea bargain: they can admit to the crime in exchange for parole (or a lesser sentence). A parole board should then help prisoners rehabilitate in the society. However, it is not the place for adjudication as to whether a prisoner is guilty or not. There is no such thing as being “innocent until proven guilty”. Today, individuals are encouraged to claim they are guilty,

A wrongful conviction can be described as “a conviction of a person who was factually innocent” (Colvin, 2009). Also according to Colvin the leading culprits in wrongful convictions are: eyewitnesses, misidentification, investigative misconduct or errors by the police; prosecutorial misconduct or errors; faulty forensic evidence; false confessions; perjured or unreliable evidence of persons with a criminal background; and inadequate legal representation (Colvin, 2009). As Colvin is implies, the cause of a wrongful conviction is always by the individuals involved in the law enforcement and the forensics. Therefore this makes us question and wonder about how many individuals there must be