Wrongly convicted : perspectives on failed justice

Author(s)

Bibliographic Information

Wrongly convicted : perspectives on failed justice

edited by Saundra D. Westervelt, John A. Humphrey ; with a foreword by Michael L. Radelet

Rutgers University Press, c2001

  • cloth : alk. paper
  • pbk. : alk. paper

Available at  / 12 libraries

Search this Book/Journal

Note

Includes bibliographical references and index

Description and Table of Contents

Volume

cloth : alk. paper ISBN 9780813529516

Description

The American criminal justice system contains numerous safeguards to prevent the conviction of innocent persons. The Bill of Rights provides nineteen separate rights for the alleged criminal offender, including the right to effective legal representation and the right to be judged without regard to race or creed. Despite these safeguards, wrongful convictions persist, and the issue has reverberated in the national debate over capital punishment. The essays in this volume are written from a cross-disciplinary perspective by some of the most eminent lawyers, criminologists, and social scientists in the field today. The articles are divided into four sections: the causes of wrongful convictions, the social characteristics of the wrongly convicted, case studies and personal histories, and suggestions for changes in the criminal justice system to prevent wrongful convictions. Contributors examine a broad range of issues, including the fallibility of eyewitness testimony, particularly in cross-racial identifications; the disadvantages faced by racial and ethnic minorities in the criminal justice system; and the impact of new technologies, especially DNA evidence, in freeing the innocent and bringing the guilty to justice. The book also asks such questions as: What legal characteristics do wrongful convictions share? What are the mechanisms that defendants and their attorneys use to overturn wrongful convictions? The book also provides case studies that offer specific examples of what can and does go wrong in the criminal justice system.
Volume

pbk. : alk. paper ISBN 9780813529523

Description

The American criminal justice system contains numerous safeguards to prevent the conviction of innocent persons. The Bill of Rights provides nineteen separate rights for the alleged criminal offender, including the right to effective legal representation and the right to be judged without regard to race or creed. Despite these safeguards, wrongful convictions persist, and the issue has reverberated in the national debate over capital punishment. The essays in this volume are written from a cross-disciplinary perspective by some of the most eminent lawyers, criminologists, and social scientists in the field today. The articles are divided into four sections: the causes of wrongful convictions, the social characteristics of the wrongly convicted, case studies and personal histories, and suggestions for changes in the criminal justice system to prevent wrongful convictions. Contributors examine a broad range of issues, including the fallibility of eyewitness testimony, particularly in cross-racial identifications; the disadvantages faced by racial and ethnic minorities in the criminal justice system; and the impact of new technologies, especially DNA evidence, in freeing the innocent and bringing the guilty to justice. The book also asks such questions as: What legal characteristics do wrongful convictions share? What are the mechanisms that defendants and their attorneys use to overturn wrongful convictions? The book also provides case studies that offer specific examples of what can and does go wrong in the criminal justice system.

Table of Contents

Contents Foreword ix Acknowledgements xiii Introduction 1 Part I: Causes of Wrongful Conditions 1 Misinformation and Wrongful Convictions 17 2 False Confessions 36 3 From the Jailhouse to the Courthouse 55 4 The Police Role in Wrongful Convictions 77 Part II: The Social Characteristics of the Wrongly Convicted 5 Who Are the Wrongly Convicted on Death Row? 99 6 Racial Bias and the Conviction of the Innocent Part III: The Faces of the Wrongly Convicted 7 More Than a Reasonable Doubt 135 8 No Appeal from the Grave 154 9 Whodunit? An Examination of the Production of Wrongful Convictions 174 Part IV: Visions for Change in the Twenty-first Century 10 Back from the Courthouse 199 11 Effective Assistance of Counsel 220 12 DNA and Innocence Scholarship 241 13 The Adversary System and Historical Accuracy 253 14 Erroneous Convictions and the Death Penalty 269 About the editors and contributors 281 Index 289

by "Nielsen BookData"

Details

Page Top