[vc_row][vc_column][vc_single_image image=”2070″ img_size=”full” alignment=”center”][vc_custom_heading text=”Wrongful Convictions” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_custom_heading text=”Righting The Wrongs Of The Criminal Injustice System” font_container=”tag:h3|text_align:left” use_theme_fonts=”yes”][vc_empty_space][vc_column_text]
Wrongful convictions are horrible. Here’s why — time in jail or prison is awful enough but doing so when you’re actually innocent is a travesty. Moreover, the guilty person is free to commit more crimes and victimize more people. Further, taxpayers cover the bills of housing these innocent people. Society suffers from wrongful convictions in many ways.
African Americans suffer the most from wrongful convictions. According to the Sentencing Project, African Americans are six times more likely to be imprisoned than whites.[1] In Texas, blacks are four times more likely than whites to be incarcerated. That number is better than the national average but still way too far.
Regarding juveniles, African American youths are seven times more likely than whites to be incarcerated.[2] In Texas, the white-black juvenile incarceration ratio is 5:1. Studies show that the racial disparity in incarceration rates for African Americans is due to poverty and the implicit biases of police officers, prosecutors, judges, and jurors.[3]
Regardless of the causes, a good hunch is the higher incarceration rates for African Americans will undoubtedly result in higher rates of wrongful convictions. This hunch is correct. The University of Michigan Law School reported that although blacks make up only 12% of the population, they were 44% of the exonerees and seven times more likely to be wrongfully convicted of murder than white people.[4] These numbers are frightening.
We all should be involved in the work to end wrongful convictions. That work begins by asking why people are wrongfully convicted. How does the system wrongfully convict people when we supposedly have the best legal system in the world? The reasons are multiple, but a few ideas are listed below:- Police and prosecutorial corruption
- False confessions (14% – 25%)
- Informant testimony
- Tunnel vision
- Mistaken eye witness testimony (75%)
- Race
- Faulty lineups
- Prejudice media coverage
- Legal errors
- Ineffective assistance of counsel
- To name a few
Let’s end wrongful convictions. Also, let’s unite to get people out of jail who’ve already been wrongfully convicted. Again, no one should spend one minute in jail or prison for a crime they never committed.
[1]https://www.sentencingproject.org/the-facts/#detail?state1Option=U.S.%20Total&state2Option=0
[2]Id.
[3]https://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/shadow-report-to-the-united-nations-human-rights-committee-regarding-racial-disparities-in-the-united-states-criminal-justice-system/
[4]https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Documents/RaceReport2.7.pdf
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row]
There’s definite racial disparity in wrongful convictions. However, we help wrongfully convicted people regardless of their race and nationality. We believe no one should serve time in prison for crimes they didn’t commit. One’s race, from this perspective, is a non-factor. We take the cases as they come in.We all should be involved in the work to end wrongful convictions. That work begins by asking why people are wrongfully convicted. How does the system wrongfully convict people when we supposedly have the best legal system in the world? The reasons are multiple, but a few ideas are listed below:
- Police and prosecutorial corruption
- False confessions (14% – 25%)
- Informant testimony
- Tunnel vision
- Mistaken eye witness testimony (75%)
- Race
- Faulty lineups
- Prejudice media coverage
- Legal errors
- Ineffective assistance of counsel
- To name a few
Let’s end wrongful convictions. Also, let’s unite to get people out of jail who’ve already been wrongfully convicted. Again, no one should spend one minute in jail or prison for a crime they never committed.
[1]https://www.sentencingproject.org/the-facts/#detail?state1Option=U.S.%20Total&state2Option=0
[2]Id.
[3]https://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/shadow-report-to-the-united-nations-human-rights-committee-regarding-racial-disparities-in-the-united-states-criminal-justice-system/
[4]https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Documents/RaceReport2.7.pdf
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row]
There’s definite racial disparity in wrongful convictions. However, we help wrongfully convicted people regardless of their race and nationality. We believe no one should serve time in prison for crimes they didn’t commit. One’s race, from this perspective, is a non-factor. We take the cases as they come in.
We all should be involved in the work to end wrongful convictions. That work begins by asking why people are wrongfully convicted. How does the system wrongfully convict people when we supposedly have the best legal system in the world? The reasons are multiple, but a few ideas are listed below:
- Police and prosecutorial corruption
- False confessions (14% – 25%)
- Informant testimony
- Tunnel vision
- Mistaken eye witness testimony (75%)
- Race
- Faulty lineups
- Prejudice media coverage
- Legal errors
- Ineffective assistance of counsel
- To name a few
Let’s end wrongful convictions. Also, let’s unite to get people out of jail who’ve already been wrongfully convicted. Again, no one should spend one minute in jail or prison for a crime they never committed.
[1]https://www.sentencingproject.org/the-facts/#detail?state1Option=U.S.%20Total&state2Option=0
[2]Id.
[3]https://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/shadow-report-to-the-united-nations-human-rights-committee-regarding-racial-disparities-in-the-united-states-criminal-justice-system/
[4]https://www.law.umich.edu/special/exoneration/Documents/RaceReport2.7.pdf
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][/vc_column][/vc_row]