Wrongful Convictions In Criminal Justice
The Innocence Project is a non-profit legal organization that exonerates innocent individuals through the use of DNA testing. Moreover, they work to reform the criminal justice system in order to prevent further injustices that will occur. The United States criminal justice system is centuries years old and does not live up to the same standards as it once did. The American people are not equal. Minorities and the lower classes are not treated equally in our justice system. There have been far too many advancements in our world today to still be wrongly accused for crimes and paying the ultimate price for them.The system is starving for reform to ensure that every single American citizen is equal and treated accordingly to his or her inalienable
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“A wrongful conviction is when a subsequent investigation finds that an individual who has been tried and found guilty of a crime is, in fact, innocent of that crime” (Bako). A wrongful conviction is not just a simple mistake, lives and families are devastated. This happens more often than people think it does. Even though this person very well may be innocent, it takes years to even appeal their case if they can even get that far. The key issues with wrongful convictions are that prosecutors rely on unreliable evidence such as eyewitness identification of a person that does not really know what he or she saw on that specific date and much, much more. The Innocence project strives to exonerate those whose rights have been unconstitutionally taken away from them through the use of DNA evidence. “The development of DNA testing has allowed the Innocence Project to help exonerate 344 innocent Americans - 20 of whom were on death row (Bako).” These 344 exonerees represent how the American criminal justice system can fail the people she was designed to protect. The innocence project works to raise awareness to the issue our justice system faces when it comes to minorities in particular. Continued research and advocacy, as well as improving the effectiveness of the criminal justice process itself, are all necessary steps to ensuring the innocence of those wrongly accused of a crime. Over 75% of …show more content…
People are beginning the process of caring and acknowledging the injustices that plague these people’s lives. However, that is not enough, our superiors need to swallow their pride for this system and admit that there are in fact faults that happen. We as citizens can all chip in to make sure that the ones that do not deserve to be incarcerated, are not. We have to address the general public that is probably not aware of the extent of injustice that happens behind those wooden courtroom doors. We all need to listen instead of rushing to judge a person in a case. If we bring awareness and if we bring leadership, reform will
“A wrongful conviction is when a subsequent investigation finds that an individual who has been tried and found guilty of a crime is, in fact, innocent of that crime” (Bako). A wrongful conviction is not just a simple mistake, lives and families are devastated. This happens more often than people think it does. Even though this person very well may be innocent, it takes years to even appeal their case if they can even get that far. The key issues with wrongful convictions are that prosecutors rely on unreliable evidence such as eyewitness identification of a person that does not really know what he or she saw on that specific date and much, much more. The Innocence project strives to exonerate those whose rights have been unconstitutionally taken away from them through the use of DNA evidence. “The development of DNA testing has allowed the Innocence Project to help exonerate 344 innocent Americans - 20 of whom were on death row (Bako).” These 344 exonerees represent how the American criminal justice system can fail the people she was designed to protect. The innocence project works to raise awareness to the issue our justice system faces when it comes to minorities in particular. Continued research and advocacy, as well as improving the effectiveness of the criminal justice process itself, are all necessary steps to ensuring the innocence of those wrongly accused of a crime. Over 75% of …show more content…
People are beginning the process of caring and acknowledging the injustices that plague these people’s lives. However, that is not enough, our superiors need to swallow their pride for this system and admit that there are in fact faults that happen. We as citizens can all chip in to make sure that the ones that do not deserve to be incarcerated, are not. We have to address the general public that is probably not aware of the extent of injustice that happens behind those wooden courtroom doors. We all need to listen instead of rushing to judge a person in a case. If we bring awareness and if we bring leadership, reform will