Controversies In Innocence Cases In America

Author : Sarah Lucy Cooper
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 246 pages
File Size : 41,6 Mb
Release : 2016-05-13
Category : Law
ISBN : 9781317160038

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Controversies in Innocence Cases in America by Sarah Lucy Cooper Pdf

Controversies in Innocence Cases in America brings together leading experts on the investigation, litigation, and scholarly analysis of innocence cases in America, from legal, political and ethical perspectives. The contributors, many of whom work on these cases daily, investigate contemporary issues presented by innocence cases and the exoneration movement as a whole. These issues include the challenges faced by the movement, causes of wrongful convictions, problems associated with investigating, proving, and defining 'innocence', and theories of reform. Each issue is placed within a multi-disciplinary perspective to provide cogent observations and recommendations for the effective handling of these cases, and for what changes should be adopted in order to improve the American criminal justice system when it is faced with its most harrowing sight: an innocent defendant.

Author : Daniel Pascoe,Andrew Novak
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 232 pages
File Size : 55,7 Mb
Release : 2020-07-30
Category : Law
ISBN : 9781000082258

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Executive Clemency by Daniel Pascoe,Andrew Novak Pdf

Nearly every country in the world has a mechanism for executive clemency, which, though residual in most legal systems, serves as a vital due process safeguard and as an outlet for leniency in punishment. While the origins of clemency lie in the historical prerogative powers of once-absolute rulers, modern clemency laws and practices have evolved to be enormously varied. This volume brings comparative and empirical analysis to bear on executive clemency, building a sociological and political context around systematically-collected data on clemency laws, grants, and decision-making. Some jurisdictions have elaborate constitutional and legal structures for pardoning or commuting a sentence while virtually never doing so, while others have little formal process and yet grant clemency frequently. Using examples from Asia, Europe, Latin America, the Caribbean, and the USA, this comparative analysis of the law and the practice of clemency sheds light on a frequently misunderstood executive power. This book builds on existing academic scholarship and expands the limited geographical scope of prior research, which has tended to focus on North America, the UK, and Australia. It relays the latest state of knowledge on the topic and employs case studies, doctrinal legal analysis, historical research, and statements by clemency decision-making authorities, in explaining why clemency varies so considerably across global legal and political systems. In addition, it includes contributions encompassing international law, transitional justice, and innocence and wrongful convictions, as well as on jurisdictions that are historically under-researched. The book will be of value to practitioners, academics, and students interested in the fields of human rights, criminal law, comparative criminal justice, and international relations.

Author : Ralph Grunewald
Publisher : NYU Press
Page : 288 pages
File Size : 42,6 Mb
Release : 2023-07-11
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781479818204

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Narratives of Guilt and Innocence by Ralph Grunewald Pdf

Illustrates how the power of narrative influences how police, prosecutors, juries, and judges construct legal reality Wrongful convictions have been studied primarily through the lenses of law, psychology, and the social sciences. Though scholarship has established canonical factors that help explain why the innocent are convicted, a very simple question has not been answered: How is it possible that prosecutors can convince juries and themselves of the guilt of an innocent defendant, often even against strong exculpatory evidence? Narratives of Guilt and Innocence seeks to address this crucial question by highlighting the narrative blueprint of a given criminal justice system and then how the power of narrative influences how police, prosecutors, juries, and judges construct legal reality and the evidence for it. That law and storytelling are connected is a common trope, but we know surprisingly little about the intricate role storytelling plays in criminal cases and wrongful convictions in particular. This book questions the effectiveness of the adversarial contest between prosecutor and defense as a means to arrive at the truth and argues that narrative is an important a factor in the construction of legal reality. Wrongful convictions exemplify that narrative and truth have an uncomfortable relationship. Ralph Grunewald provides a retelling and reading of well-known miscarriages of justice, including the best-known wrongful conviction in Germany. Applying a comparative perspective shows that the narrative desire as a human trait has a universal power with a persistence that transcends the regulatory and procedural setup of a given system. Narratives of Guilt and Innocence puts wrongful convictions into an interdisciplinary and comparative context and vividly demonstrates just how much the process of storytelling affects legal reality.

Author : Adam Lamparello,Cynthia Swann
Publisher : Taylor & Francis
Page : 264 pages
File Size : 54,5 Mb
Release : 2016-12
Category : Law
ISBN : 9781315407777

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The United States Supreme Court's Assault on the Constitution, Democracy, and the Rule of Law by Adam Lamparello,Cynthia Swann Pdf

Part VII An interpretive theory that promotes federalism, separation of powers and principled judicial review -- 28 Is democracy a good thing? The arguments - and the practicalities -- 29 Foundational principles for a pro-democracy, process-oriented, and pragmatic jurisprudence -- 30 Applying the foundational principles to the "worst" Supreme Court decisions and arriving at nonideological, process-oriented, and pro-democracy outcomes -- Concluding thoughts -- Index

Author : Laura L. Finley
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Page : 813 pages
File Size : 49,9 Mb
Release : 2016-12-05
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781610699280

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Crime and Punishment in America [2 volumes] by Laura L. Finley Pdf

Covering some of the most hotly contested topics in crime and criminal justice, including proposed sentencing and prison reforms, controversial developments like Stand Your Ground laws, and Supreme Court decisions, this work supplies essential background, current data, and a range of viewpoints on these important issues. Should people be able to use lethal force before retreating? What are the arguments for and against executing mentally ill inmates? Should police always need warrants to search individuals or their property? How can we best hold accountable white collar offenders? Why do men perpetrate crime at higher rates than women? This two-volume set grapples with the answers to these complex questions and many more, enabling readers to better understand current crime/punishment issues within the context of America's ever-evolving culture, economy, and politics. This multidisciplinary reference work offers a current and thorough compilation of the most important and hotly contested topics related to crime and criminal justice. Organized alphabetically, each entry presents scholarly research and authoritative sources to inform readers about the subject.

Author : Kevin Yuill,Joe Street
Publisher : Routledge
Page : 293 pages
File Size : 55,9 Mb
Release : 2017-09-14
Category : History
ISBN : 9781351783330

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The Second Amendment and Gun Control by Kevin Yuill,Joe Street Pdf

The Second Amendment, by far the most controversial amendment to the US Constitution, will soon celebrate its 225th anniversary. Yet, despite the amount of ink spilled over this controversy, the debate continues on into the 21st century. Initially written with a view towards protecting the nascent nation from more powerful enemies and preventing the tyranny experienced during the final years of British rule, the Second Amendment has since become central to discussions about the balance between security and freedom. It features in election contests and informs cultural discussions about race and gender. This book seeks to broaden the discussion. It situates discussion about gun controls within contemporary debates about citizenship, culture, philosophy and foreign policy as well as in the more familiar terrain of politics and history. It features experts on the Constitution as well as chapters discussing the symbolic importance of Annie Oakley, the role of firearms in race, and filmic representations of armed Hispanic girl gangs. It asks about the morality of gun controls and of not imposing them. The collection presents a balanced view between those who favour more gun controls and those who would prefer fewer of them. It is infused with the belief that through honest and open debate the often bitter cultural divide on the Second Amendment can be overcome and real progress made. It contains a diverse range of perspectives including, uniquely, a European perspective on this most American of issues.

Author : Michael L. Radelet,Hugo Adam Bedau,Constance E. Putnam
Publisher : UPNE
Page : 422 pages
File Size : 48,9 Mb
Release : 1992
Category : Law
ISBN : 1555531970

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In Spite of Innocence by Michael L. Radelet,Hugo Adam Bedau,Constance E. Putnam Pdf

The stories of some 400 innocent Americans who were falsely convicted of capital crimes.

Author : Scott Christianson
Publisher : NYU Press
Page : 196 pages
File Size : 45,5 Mb
Release : 2006-11-01
Category : Law
ISBN : 9780814716755

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Innocent by Scott Christianson Pdf

Innocent graphically documents forty-two recent criminal cases to find evidence of shocking miscarriages of justice, especially in murder cases. Based upon interviews with more than 200 people and reviews of hundreds internal case files, court records, smoking-gun memoranda, and other documents, Scott Christianson gets inside the legal cases, revealing the mistakes, abuses, and underlying factors that led to miscarriages of justice, while also describing how determined prisoners, post-conviction attorneys, advocates, and journalists struggle against tremendous odds to try to win their exonerations. The result is a powerful work that recounts the human costs of a criminal justice system gone awry, and shows us how wrongful convictions can—and do—happen everywhere.

Author : Jon B. Gould
Publisher : NYU Press
Page : 360 pages
File Size : 52,8 Mb
Release : 2009-11
Category : History
ISBN : 9780814732267

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The Innocence Commission by Jon B. Gould Pdf

Beyond Exonerating the Innocent: Author on WAMU Radio Convicted Yet Innocent: The Legal Times Review Choice Outstanding Academic Title for 2008 DNA testing and advances in forensic science have shaken the foundations of the U.S. criminal justice system. One of the most visible results is the exoneration of inmates who were wrongly convicted and incarcerated, many of them sentenced to death for crimes they did not commit. This has caused a quandary for many states: how can claims of innocence be properly investigated and how can innocent inmates be reliably distinguished from the guilty? In answer, some states have created “innocence commissions” to establish policies and provide legal assistance to the improperly imprisoned. The Innocence Commission describes the creation and first years of the Innocence Commission for Virginia (ICVA), the second innocence commission in the nation and the first to conduct a systematic inquiry into all cases of wrongful conviction. Written by Jon B. Gould, the Chair of the ICVA, who is a professor of justice studies and an attorney, the author focuses on twelve wrongful conviction cases to show how and why wrongful convictions occur, what steps legal and state advocates took to investigate the convictions, how these prisoners were ultimately freed, and what lessons can be learned from their experiences. Gould recounts how a small band of attorneys and other advocates — in Virginia and around the country — have fought wrongful convictions in court, advanced the subject of wrongful convictions in the media, and sought to remedy the issue of wrongful convictions in the political arena. He makes a strong case for the need for Innocence Commissions in every state, showing that not only do Innocence Commissions help to identify weaknesses in the criminal justice system and offer workable improvements, but also protect society by helping to ensure that actual perpetrators are expeditiously identified, arrested, and brought to trial. Everyone has an interest in preventing wrongful convictions, from police officers and prosecutors, who seek the latest and best investigative techniques, to taxpayers, who want an efficient criminal justice system, to suspects who are erroneously pursued and sometimes convicted. Free of legal jargon and written for a general audience, The Innocence Commission is instructive, informative, and highly compelling reading.

Author : Anonim
Publisher : Unknown
Page : 856 pages
File Size : 55,7 Mb
Release : 2016
Category : Criminal justice, Administration of
ISBN : OSU:32437123599173

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Ohio State Journal of Criminal Law by Anonim Pdf

Author : James E. Pfander
Publisher : Oxford University Press
Page : 281 pages
File Size : 43,5 Mb
Release : 2021
Category : Law
ISBN : 9780197571408

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Cases Without Controversies by James E. Pfander Pdf

The origins of uncontested adjudication -- Uncontested proceedings on federal dockets in the early Republic -- Probate and domestic relations proceedings -- The nineteenth-century perspective on federal judicial power -- The judicial response to the administrative state -- The progressive response to Lochner : limiting justiciability -- The new adverse-party rule confronts judicial practice -- Uncontested adjudication and the modern case-or-controversy rule -- Evaluating defenses of a requirement of adverse interests -- Uncontested adjudication and standing to sue -- A practical guide to uncontested adjudication -- Toward a constructive constitutional history.

Author : Vidisha Barua Worley,Robert M. Worley
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Page : 720 pages
File Size : 48,5 Mb
Release : 2018-12-07
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9798216046738

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American Prisons and Jails [2 volumes] by Vidisha Barua Worley,Robert M. Worley Pdf

This two-volume encyclopedia provides a comprehensive and authoritative examination of the history and current character of American prisons and jails and their place in the U.S. corrections system. This encyclopedia provides a rigorous and comprehensive summary of correctional systems and practices and their evolution throughout US history. Topics include sentencing norms and contemporary developments; differences between local jails and prisons and regional, state, and federal systems; violent and nonviolent inmate populations; operations of state and federal prisons, including well-known prisons such as ADX-Florence, Alcatrez, Attica, Leavenworth, and San Quentin; privately run, for-profit prisons as well as the companies that run them; inmate culture, including prisoner-generated social hierarchies, prisoner slang, gangs, drug use, and violence; prison trends and statistics, including racial, ethnic, age, gender, and educational breakdowns; the death penalty; and post-incarceration outcomes, including recidivism. The set showcases contributions from some of the leading scholars in the fields of correctional systems and practices and will be a valuable resource for anyone interested in learning more about American prisons, jails, and community corrections.

Author : Edward F. Connors
Publisher : DIANE Publishing
Page : 119 pages
File Size : 47,5 Mb
Release : 1996
Category : Criminal investigation
ISBN : 9780788131257

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Convicted by Juries, Exonerated by Science by Edward F. Connors Pdf

The development of DNA technology furthers the search for truth by helping police & prosecutors in the fight against violent crime. Most of the individuals whose stories are told in the report were convicted after jury trials & were sentenced to long prison terms. They successfully challenged their convictions, using DNA tests on existing evidence. They had served, on average, seven years in prison. By highlighting the importance & utility of DNA evidence, this report presents challenges to the scientific & justice communities. A task ahead is to maintain the highest standards for the collection & preservation of DNA evidence.

Author : Robert J. Norris
Publisher : NYU Press
Page : 299 pages
File Size : 48,7 Mb
Release : 2019-02-05
Category : Social Science
ISBN : 9781479821990

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Exonerated by Robert J. Norris Pdf

The fascinating story behind the innocence movement's quest for justice. Documentaries like Making a Murderer, the first season of Serial, and the cause célèbre that was the West Memphis Three captured the attention of millions and focused the national discussion on wrongful convictions. This interest is warranted: more than 1,800 people have been set free in recent decades after being convicted of crimes they did not commit. In response to these exonerations, federal and state governments have passed laws to prevent such injustices; lawyers and police have changed their practices; and advocacy organizations have multiplied across the country. Together, these activities are often referred to as the “innocence movement.” Exonerated 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. Robert Norris also examines how and why the innocence movement took hold. He argues that while the innocence movement did not begin as an organized campaign, scientific, legal, and cultural developments led to a widespread understanding that new technology and renewed investigative diligence could both catch the guilty and free the innocent. Exonerated reveals the rich background story to this complex movement.

Author : Isabelle Armand,Tucker Carrington
Publisher : powerHouse Books
Page : 0 pages
File Size : 45,8 Mb
Release : 2018-03-27
Category : Photography
ISBN : 1576878848

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Levon and Kennedy by Isabelle Armand,Tucker Carrington Pdf

Two African American men from poor, rural Mississippi wrongfully convicted for crimes they didn't commit. Lost years of their lives spent in jail and finally released a decade a half later thanks to the Innocence Project and DNA testing. This is their life for all to see. In the early 1990s in a small disadvantaged community in rural Mississippi, Levon Brooks and Kennedy Brewer were wrongfully convicted in separate trials of capital murder. Brooks, despite an alibi, was sentenced to life and was imprisoned for 18 years. A few years later Brewer was convicted and sentenced to death. He was incarcerated for 15. In 2008 the Innocence Project in New York exonerated both men. Vanessa Potkin, longtime attorney at the Innocence Project, along with co-founder of the Innocence Project, Peter Neufeld, spent years investigating the two cases, and discovered a link between them that subsequent DNA testing substantiated. The results of that testing led authorities to the real perpetrator who was responsible for both murders and then to the exonerations of Brooks and Brewer. Without the work of the Innocence Project, Potkin, Neufeld, and a host of others, these photographs-of lives lost, forgotten, and then regained-would not have been possible. The photographs' poignance is made all the more powerful as one contemplates their stark, deeply felt beauty against the haunting realization that they were almost never able to be made or seen at all. The evidence against Brooks and Brewer consisted primarily of bite mark matching evidence. A prosecution expert testified that in both cases multiple bite marks covered the victims' bodies and matched the defendants' teeth impressions. A group of experts retained by the Innocence Project later determined that the marks were not bite marks at all. As a forensic discipline, bite mark matching has come under serious criticism in recent years and led to the exoneration of multiple other prisoners. This same prosecution expert testified not only in Brooks's and Brewer's cases, but a host of others in Mississippi and the region. The extent of the damage is still unknown. In 2012, photographer Isabelle Armand came across an article about these two cases. Such a scenario seemed unbelievable. How, why, and where could this happen? How does one cope with wrongful conviction? For the next five years, she spent several weeks each year documenting Brooks, Brewer, their families and their environment. This intimate photographic essay, akin to looking in a mirror, puts faces on the victims of wrongful convictions. It seeks to raise consciousness, challenge popular perceptions about poverty and inequality in our criminal justice system, and demands that we confront these critical issues.