Guides: Criminal Justice: Wrongful Convictions

Books and eBooks

Wrongful Convictions of Women by Marvin D. Free; Mitch Ruesink
Publication Date: 2016
Examining more than 160 cases involving such charges as homicide, child abuse, and drug-related offenses, the authors explore systemic failures in both policing and prosecution. They also highlight the intersecting roles of gender and race. Demonstrating how women encounter circumstances that are qualitatively different than those of men, the authors illuminate unique challenges facing women in the criminal justice system.
Race and Justice by Marvin D. Free; Mitch Ruesink
Publication Date: 2011
In this investigation of some 350 wrongful convictions of African American men,Free and Ruesink expand the focus of wrongful conviction studies to include not only homicide, but also sexual assault, drug dealing, and nonviolent crime. Their careful analysis reveals that black men accused of crimes against white victims account for a disproportionate number of wrongful convictions. They also uncover other disturbing failings on the part of prosecutors, police, witnesses, and informants.
Wrongful Convictions and Miscarriages of Justice by C. Ronald Huff (Editor); Martin Killias (Editor)
Publication Date: 2013
TPlaces the subject of wrongful convictions in the broader contextual framework of miscarriages of justice and provides discussions of different types of miscarriages of justice that have not previously received much scholarly attention by criminologists.
Blind Injustice by Mark Godsey
Call Number: KF 9756 .G63 2017
Publication Date: 2017
Godsey shares how innate psychological flaws in judges, police, lawyers, and juries coupled with a "tough on crime" environment can cause investigations to go awry, leading to the convictions of innocent people. He recommends structural, procedural, and attitudinal changes aimed at restoring justice to the criminal justice system.
The Innocent and the Criminal Justice System by Michael Naughton
Call Number: KD 8464 .N38 2013
Publication Date: 2013
Covers wrong convictions, from definition and causation to the limits of redress
Exonerated by Robert J. Norris
Publication Date: 2017
Provides the first in-depth look at the history of this movement through interviews with key leaders such as Barry Scheck and Rob Warden as well as archival and field research into the major cases that brought awareness to wrongful convictions in the United States.
Reform of Eyewitness Identification Procedures by Brian L. Cutler
Publication Date: 2013
Top researchers in the field of eyewitness research present full reviews of the literature on key issues such as the nature and composition of police lineups the relative effectiveness of sequential vs. simultaneous lineups the importance of double-blind lineup administrations the effectiveness of lineups vs. showups the slippery nature of eyewitness memory In each chapter, authors turn research into practice by providing clear and practical recommendations for effective police and legal reform.

National Registry of Exonerations

"The National Registry of Exonerations is a project of the Newkirk Center for Science & Society at the University of California Irvine, the University of Michigan Law School, and Michigan State University College of Law... The Registry collects, analyzes and disseminates information about all known exonerations of innocent criminal defendants in the United States, from 1989 to the present."

The website includesdata including graphs, infographics, downloadable data spreadsheets, and reports. You can also browse or search detailed case reports.

Videos

Wrongful Convictions: The Latest Scientific Research & Implications for Law Enforcement
Discusses the findings of a large-scale study that identified ten statistically significant factors that identify wrongful convictions. Also examines recommendations for law enforcement from the International Association of Chiefs of Police's 2012 summit on wrongful convictions

The Central Park Five by Ken Burns
Call Number: HV 6568 .N5 C46 2013
Publication Date: 2013
Chronicles America's complicated perceptions of race and crime through the story of the "Central Park 5" -- a group of minority teenagers wrongfully convicted and jailed for brutally raping a white woman in New York.