NCJ Number
160583
Date Published
1996
Length
198 pages
Annotation
The authors mix materials from case files in the literature and reported in numerous research reports and the media to explore the policy implications of wrongfully convicting innocent people.
Abstract
Even if the American criminal justice system proved 99.5 percent accurate, it would still generate more than 10,000 wrongful convictions a year and these would reflect only serious index crimes. Each time an innocent offender is wrongfully convicted, the actual offender remains free to continue victimizing. Specific issues associated with wrongful convictions and implications for society are analyzed, based on case studies and survey data that reflect the possible magnitude of the wrongful conviction problem. Major factors associated with the potential for error in the criminal justice system are identified, the importance of focusing on preventable errors to reduce the number of conviction injustices is emphasized, and problems in eyewitness identification and false confessions are noted. Policy issues related to wrongful convictions are examined that concern crime control versus due process, compensating and reintegrating convicted innocents, and the irreversible nature of capital punishment. References, notes, and tables