Overview

Imagine being convicted of a crime you didn't commit and spending years behind bars. Since 1989 more than 1,400 Americans who experienced this injustice have been exonerated. Some of the people who have won their freedom include Ronald Cotton, who was falsely convicted of raping a college student; Nicole Harris, who was unjustly imprisoned for the death of her son; and intellectually disabled Earl Washington Jr., who was unfairly sentenced to death for the rape and murder of a young mother. Wrongful convictions shatter lives and harm society by allowing real perpetrators to potentially commit additional crimes. How can such injustices happen? Overturning Wrongful Convictions recounts stories of individuals who served someone else's prison time due to mistaken eyewitness identification, police misconduct, faulty forensic science, poor legal representation, courtroom mistakes, and other factors. You'll learn about the legal processes that can lead to unjust convictions and about the Innocence Project and other organizations dedicated to righting these wrongs. The sciences--including psychology, criminology, police science, and forensic science--work hand in hand with the legal system to prosecute and punish those people whose actions break laws. Those same sciences can also be used to free people who have been wrongfully convicted. As a society, can we learn from past mistakes to avoid more unjust convictions? -- ""Journal""

Full Product Details

9781467725132

Table of Contents

Reviews

This well-researched, extremely thorough look at how the legal system can go awry examines how people end up wrongly incarcerated and the paths that may lead to exoneration. Forensic scientist Murray presents the steps that comprise a criminal case, including arrest, arraignment, trail, plea deals, verdicts, and appeals, before detailing the potential for errors at every stage. She notes that approximately 40,000 to 100,000 people are wrongly behind bars a staggering statistic. Murray also describes groups that fight wrongful convictions, like the Innocence Project, as well as ways that convicts are exonerated through advances in science, particularly in the area of DNA evidence. Reasons for wrongful convictions are laid out: mishandled evidence, unreliable witness accounts, false confessions, sloppy police work, bad legal counsel, racial prejudice, and mistakes made by judges. Murray looks at what happens next for those who are exonerated, noting the issues that come with reintegration into society. Though the explanations of legal procedures can be on the dense side, the text is broken up by fascinating profiles of individuals who have been exonerated. The writing is on the scholarly side, making it ideal for students doing research or seeking an in-depth analysis of the subject. VERDICT: A strong purchase about an always timely issue. School Library Journal -- Journal So very rarely is anything perfect, but when the legal process malfunctions, the result can be the horror of unjust incarceration. It is estimated that 2 to 5 percent of the American prison population--that is, 40,000 to 100,000 souls--are wrongly behind bars, writes veteran forensic scientist Murray. They are the victims of inept counsel, snitches looking for a payday, judges guilty of official misconduct ('such as bias, corruption, or incompetence'), police bullying, flawed or malicious testimony, and racial prejudice--what one attorney refers to as 'legal lynching.' But since the late 1980s, a handful of exoneration organizations have worked to overturn wrongful convictions. As Murray writes, they principally address high-profile cases, such as murder and rape, where the consequences can be the death penalty; over the last 25 years, 1,400 men and women have been exonerated. Murray lays a solid foundation for readers, taking them through the legal system's long road, from questioning all the way to appeal, while explaining how exoneration is achieved, mostly through DNA testing and fingerprints. More rarely it's achieved by displaying overwhelming evidence of faulty prosecution (as she writes, 'Grave mistakes are often the hardest to admit'). Of exonerated prisoners, notes Murray, the average age of incarceration is 27 and the average age of release is 42. A chilling expose. --Kirkus Reviews -- Journal

So very rarely is anything perfect, but when the legal process malfunctions, the result can be the horror of unjust incarceration. It is estimated that 2 to 5 percent of the American prison population--that is, 40,000 to 100,000 souls--are wrongly behind bars, writes veteran forensic scientist Murray. They are the victims of inept counsel, snitches looking for a payday, judges guilty of official misconduct ('such as bias, corruption, or incompetence'), police bullying, flawed or malicious testimony, and racial prejudice--what one attorney refers to as 'legal lynching.' But since the late 1980s, a handful of exoneration organizations have worked to overturn wrongful convictions. As Murray writes, they principally address high-profile cases, such as murder and rape, where the consequences can be the death penalty; over the last 25 years, 1,400 men and women have been exonerated. Murray lays a solid foundation for readers, taking them through the legal system's long road, from questioning all the way to appeal, while explaining how exoneration is achieved, mostly through DNA testing and fingerprints. More rarely it's achieved by displaying overwhelming evidence of faulty prosecution (as she writes, 'Grave mistakes are often the hardest to admit'). Of exonerated prisoners, notes Murray, the average age of incarceration is 27 and the average age of release is 42. A chilling expos . --Kirkus Reviews --Journal This well-researched, extremely thorough look at how the legal system can go awry examines how people end up wrongly incarcerated and the paths that may lead to exoneration. Forensic scientist Murray presents the steps that comprise a criminal case, including arrest, arraignment, trail, plea deals, verdicts, and appeals, before detailing the potential for errors at every stage. She notes that approximately 40,000 to 100,000 people are wrongly behind bars a staggering statistic. Murray also describes groups that fight wrongful convictions, like the Innocence Project, as well as ways that convicts are exonerated through advances in science, particularly in the area of DNA evidence. Reasons for wrongful convictions are laid out: mishandled evidence, unreliable witness accounts, false confessions, sloppy police work, bad legal counsel, racial prejudice, and mistakes made by judges. Murray looks at what happens next for those who are exonerated, noting the issues that come with reintegration into society. Though the explanations of legal procedures can be on the dense side, the text is broken up by fascinating profiles of individuals who have been exonerated. The writing is on the scholarly side, making it ideal for students doing research or seeking an in-depth analysis of the subject. VERDICT: A strong purchase about an always timely issue. School Library Journal --Journal

So very rarely is anything perfect, but when the legal process malfunctions, the result can be the horror of unjust incarceration. It is estimated that 2 to 5 percent of the American prison population--that is, 40,000 to 100,000 souls--are wrongly behind bars, writes veteran forensic scientist Murray. They are the victims of inept counsel, snitches looking for a payday, judges guilty of official misconduct ('such as bias, corruption, or incompetence'), police bullying, flawed or malicious testimony, and racial prejudice--what one attorney refers to as 'legal lynching.' But since the late 1980s, a handful of exoneration organizations have worked to overturn wrongful convictions. As Murray writes, they principally address high-profile cases, such as murder and rape, where the consequences can be the death penalty; over the last 25 years, 1,400 men and women have been exonerated. Murray lays a solid foundation for readers, taking them through the legal system's long road, from questioning all the way to appeal, while explaining how exoneration is achieved, mostly through DNA testing and fingerprints. More rarely it's achieved by displaying overwhelming evidence of faulty prosecution (as she writes, 'Grave mistakes are often the hardest to admit'). Of exonerated prisoners, notes Murray, the average age of incarceration is 27 and the average age of release is 42. A chilling expose. --Kirkus Reviews --Journal This well-researched, extremely thorough look at how the legal system can go awry examines how people end up wrongly incarcerated and the paths that may lead to exoneration. Forensic scientist Murray presents the steps that comprise a criminal case, including arrest, arraignment, trail, plea deals, verdicts, and appeals, before detailing the potential for errors at every stage. She notes that approximately 40,000 to 100,000 people are wrongly behind bars a staggering statistic. Murray also describes groups that fight wrongful convictions, like the Innocence Project, as well as ways that convicts are exonerated through advances in science, particularly in the area of DNA evidence. Reasons for wrongful convictions are laid out: mishandled evidence, unreliable witness accounts, false confessions, sloppy police work, bad legal counsel, racial prejudice, and mistakes made by judges. Murray looks at what happens next for those who are exonerated, noting the issues that come with reintegration into society. Though the explanations of legal procedures can be on the dense side, the text is broken up by fascinating profiles of individuals who have been exonerated. The writing is on the scholarly side, making it ideal for students doing research or seeking an in-depth analysis of the subject. VERDICT: A strong purchase about an always timely issue. School Library Journal --Journal

Author Information

Dr. Elizabeth A. Murray is a native Cincinnatian from a large family. When she was young, Elizabeth always thought she may grow up to be a writer, teacher, scientist, or explorer--now that she is a college professor and forensic scientist, she is active in all of those fields! Elizabeth always loved science; it was her favorite subject in school. In college, she studied biology and discovered that she found humans to be the most interesting animals, so she continued her studies in the field of anthropology. Being a very practical person, Elizabeth wanted her research focus to have tangible results and benefits that could aid society, and this led her to the forensic application of anthropology. It took many years of college and lots of hard work to become a forensic scientist, but Elizabeth says that teaching is still the very best part of her job. She enjoys taking difficult concepts in science and explaining them in a way that is interesting and relevant to her students.

Tab Content 6

Customer Reviews

Recent Reviews

Countries Available