For decades, people have been wrongfully accused in court cases and in many cases the individuals serve jail time. Cases are being published about wrongful imprisonment. The article “Ohio Man Sues Police Over Wrongful Imprisonment” by The Associated Press releases information of a man who police accused to be a drug dealer and the man was forced to serve jail time. The second article “Jury awards $175k in false imprisonment case against private probation company” by the Terry Carter release information about a private probation company that was only out for money and not for the rehabilitation of probationers. Although there are many articles that cover false imprisonment these two articles focus on specific cases that have facts to support …show more content…
The articles “Ohio Man Sues Police Over Wrongful Imprisonment” by The Associated Press and the article “Jury awards $175k in false imprisonment case against private probation company” by Terry Carter are both creditable also for how they present the problem right from the beginning and have support and proof to continue to back up the main points of the articles. Both articles may open the eyes of readers, and prosecutors to save future cases with wrongful imprisonment. Both articles present the reader with a case in which the victim had no criminal history but was still imprisoned even when there was proof that they were not the one they were going after. Both articles have main ideas or topics and supporting details followed by evidence. Both articles help support the thesis statement that for decades, people have been wrongfully accused in court cases and in many cases the individuals serve jail time. Maurice Snows case helps prove the thesis statement because he was in jail for fifty-two days and he lost his house, his job and he fell behind on child support payments losing his time with his children. Kathleen Huck’s case proves the thesis of the paper and the article because she served jail time for not being able to pay a fee but she was able to get away with failing drug tests multiple
The aspect of wrongful conviction is established within law to protect the innocent from being abused by the law. Nevertheless, the real issue of concern is the fact of whether wrongful conviction actually helps those who cannot help themselves. With that said, another important underlying factor is whether the criminal justice system has restrictions set up to help those from being innocently convicted and those who have been convicted and later was found to be innocent. By looking at the case of Guy Paul Morin, one will see how the police, courts, and criminal justice system failed in aiding the innocent and bringing justice in society, as well as showing that the system has failed in helping its people, and what must be done to aid those who have been wrongfully convicted.
Curtis McGhee is 17-year-old Black male who lived in Iowa. In 1977, he was charged for the murder of John Schweer who worked as a security guard at a car dealership. Later on in 1978, he was sentenced to life in prison for a murder that he never committed. Later on in 2011, McGhee was exonerated based on the police file and court’s transcript that was found, and which indicated that McGhee was a innocent man behind bars, and he was serving time for a crime that he never took in part of committing. This case of Curtis McGhee raises a question on our criminal justice system and it leads us to confirm that miscarriages of justice do occur, and there should be various reforms that should be made so these miscarriages can be prevented from occurring in the future.
If that does not occur to the reader as an issue than factoring in the main problem of the topic where innocent people die because of false accusation will. In addition, this book review will include a brief review of the qualifications of the authors, overview of the subject and the quality of the book, and as well as my own personal thoughts on the book. In the novel Actual Innocence: When Justice Goes Wrong and How to Make It Right authors Barry Scheck, Peter Neufeld, and Jim Dwyer expose the flaws of the criminal justice system through case histories where innocent men were put behind bars and even on death row because of the miscarriages of justice. Initially, the text promotes and galvanizes progressive change in the legal
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 informants, eyewitness error, erroneous forensic science, inappropriate, professional and institutional misconduct and scientific limitations that society possessed prior to the technological revolution (Roberts, Grossman, 2012, 253 – 259). The introduction of more advanced DNA analysis has been able to clear names and prevent these incidences from occurring as often. As well as the formation of foundations such as The Association of Defense for the Wrongly Convicted (AIDWYC). Unfortunately, mistakes made in the Canadian Justice System have serious life altering repercussions for everyone that is involved. Both systematic and personal issues arise that require deeper and more intense analysis.
The United States has a larger percent of its population incarcerated than any other country. America is responsible for a quarter of the world’s inmates, and its incarceration rate is growing exponentially. The expense generated by these overcrowded prisons cost the country a substantial amount of money every year. While people are incarcerated for a number of reasons, the country’s prisons are focused on punishment rather than reform, and the result is a misguided system that fails to rehabilitate criminals or discourage crime. The ineffectiveness of the United States’ criminal justice system is caused by mass incarceration of non-violent offenders, racial profiling, and a high rate of recidivism.
exposes many of the problems that face the Criminal Justice system, as well as reveals several
The National Advisory Commission on Criminal Justice Standards and Goals set a limit that each criminal defense attorney can take 150 felony cases per year, but “caseloads of 500, 600, 800, or more are common” (“Five Problems”). With that, criminal defense attorneys are forced to triage or reject cases, leaving potential clients to go to court without representation. If the defendant does have a public attorney, their defense is unprepared and vulnerable to make mistakes when working out a reasonable sentence. In one of his cases, Jones and his client accepted a deal with the prosecution for a three year sentence for stealing locks. Upon further investigation, the prosecution discovered that they made a mistake in calculating the minimum sentence – Jones’s client should have only served “366 days,” but it was already too late (Eckholm).
were not previously seen, such as hostile or mistrustful attitude towards the world, social withdrawal, feelings of emptiness or hopelessness, a chronic feeling of threat, and estrangement.” Although psychological issues develop in anyone incarcerated, those discussed are particular from the perspective of a victim wrongfully accused. From the moment an innocent individual enters the criminal justice system, they are pressured by law enforcement whose main objective is to obtain a conviction. Some police interrogation tactics have been characterized as explicit violations of the suspect’s right to due process (Campbell and Denov, 2004). However, this is just the beginning.
Wrongful convictions in Canada is a very sensitive and disturbing topic that has created concerns as to why individuals are being wrongfully convicted. As people in Canada read about cases involving wrongful conviction, such as Guy Paul Morin, Rubin Carter and David Millguard, it often undermines their faith in the criminal justice system. Tunnel vision, the use of questionable DNA evidence, and eyewitness misidentification are the three main causes of wrongful convictions in Canada. Recognizing and addressing these concerns has led to a reduction in cases of wrongful convictions in Canada.
Mauer, Marc. 1999. The Race to Incarcerate. New York: The New Press National Research Council. 1993.
Ego is that which constitutes the essential identity of a human being. It is defined as the “I” or self of any person; a person that is able to think, feel, will, but perhaps most importantly- reason. The Palace of Corrective Detention has no guards and the locks are old. The convicted, or lack, thereof, do not ever try to escape. From the beginning, the government of Anthem perpetuates its ideology to its citizens. Because of this fact, the citizens never learn of what the Council forbids them to know. In essence, these criminals in the Palace of Corrective Detention are never able to conceive the notion or concept of escape. The people in the totalitarian world of Anthem have no ego- they cannot begin to fathom escape, for the true prison they are trapped in is their own mind. The prisoners are a manifestation of the fact that in the collectivist society, one cannot accomplish anything without the permission of another. The prisoners have been brought up by the system that controls them in the broadest sense. Hence, the prisoners are trapped within themselves. The Palace of Corrective Detention, to a certain extent, represents the mind of the prisoners. The binds that hold down the prisoners at the Palace of Corrective Detention are not physical restraints, but psychological ones.
The statement "It is better that 10 guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer" summarises and highlights the mistakes and injustices in the criminal justice system. In a just society, the innocent would never be charged, nor convicted, and the guilty would always be caught and punished. Unfortunately, it seems this would be impossible to achieve due to the society in which we live. Therefore, miscarriages of justice occur in the criminal justice system more frequently than is publicised or known to the public at large. They are routine and would have to be considered as a serious problem in our society. The law is what most people respect and abide by, if society cannot trust the law that governs them, then there will be serious consequences including the possible breakdown of that society. In order to have a fair and just society, miscarriages of justice must not only become exceptional but ideally cease to occur altogether.
A good chunk of the people in jail right now are being punished for a crime that they did not commit. A good example of this is the boy’s that were wrongfully convicted for the the murder of Catherine Fuller. According to Alexandra Natapoff (2016), “45.9 percent of documented wrongful capital convictions have been traced to false informant testimony... Horror stories abound of lying jailhouse snitches and paid informants who frame innocent people in pursuit of cash or lenience for their own crimes.” In making this quote, Natapoff claims how people are willing to lie on other people for their one benefits. Calvin Harris, from the documentary was one of the suspect of the murder of Mrs.Fuller and was one of the government's main key evidence on why the other four boy’s received a long lengthy sentence. Calvin made a false testimony in court and acted out a false event of how the murder happened based on the words and stories the news media stated. He did this because he thought he would get of of jail, but instead he received a shorter sentence. A situation like the 8th and 8 street conviction is an example of how people are striped of their freedom for crimes they did not
The worst thing in life is paying for another man's mistake. Sadly, this is something that occurs frequently. After watching a video about the wrongful conviction and the imprisonment of Ronald Cotton, I was baffled. I find it absurd that an innocent person can lose their freedom for a crime that they were not involved in. Ronald Cotton is not the only unfortunate individual who has endured wrongful imprisonment. Bennet Barbour, James Bain, and many others have been convicted of crimes that they did not commit due to faulty eyewitness testimonies.
Imprisonment is defined as placing a certain entity into forcible detention. With Hester Prynne and Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale in ‘The Scarlet Letter’ by Nathaniel Hawthorne and, the servants and daughters of Bernarda in ‘The House of Bernarda Alba’ by Federico Garcia Lorca, there is a constant dwelling around the collision between the pursuit of personal freedom and the imprisonment that subdues the characters’ lives. Moreover, Hester and Dimmesdale are imprisoned by the consequences of their own actions, an adulterous affair; whereas the residents of the Albas’ household are confined involuntarily, due to Bernarda’s crave for power and high social stature. The imprisonment present in both works furthermore deprives the characters from taking joy of their lives. Notwithstanding, it is interesting to analyze whether the characters could escape their respective forms of imprisonment or abide a state of confinement.