| Yesterday, Mark Godsey posted on a commentary written by Erie County (NY) District Attorney Frank A. Sedita III and published here in the BuffaloNews.com. It has drawn considerable commentary from those who read this blog. However, for persons uneducated on the subject of wrongful conviction, the prosecutor’s viewpoint might serve to downplay concerns about miscarriages of justice and discourage the public from supporting criminal justice reforms. That would be a shame.
Mr. Sedita’s commentary plays on the universal fear of crime and criminals. The tide of public concern has been turning, however, as a result of the undeniable rash of wrongful convictions proven by DNA. Americans have learned from the Innocence Project and more recently from the Registry of Exonerations that wrongful conviction, one of the most horrific experiences imaginable, occurs much more frequently than most imagined. Analysis of proven conviction errors has revealed recurring contributors to miscarriages of justice that cannot be attributed properly to “human error.” District Attorney Sedita neglects to comment on perpetrators of violence who have continued to commit crimes such as rape and murder after escaping justice due to the wrongful conviction of an innocent person. No denial or defensiveness can obscure the fact that we can do better. Those in the criminal justice system who are committed to truth in justice and the important work of protecting society from crime and criminals deserve our support and respect. They also deserve policies that reflect best practices and a culture that places its highest priority and focus on perfecting our justice system to reduce conviction error and apprehend lawbreakers. Those in leadership, and prosecutors most of all, should be less concerned about defending a conviction or a record and more focused on efforts and policies that can improve conviction accuracy and better delivery on the promise of justice for all. Only then will public confidence in the criminal justice system be restored to the high levels it once commonly enjoyed. |
Blog Editor
Mark Godsey
Daniel P. & Judith L. Carmichael Professor of Law, University of Cincinnati College of Law; Director, Center for the Global Study of Wrongful Conviction; Director, Rosenthal Institute for Justice/Ohio Innocence Project
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Contributing Editors
Justin Brooks
Professor, California Western School of Law; Director, California Innocence ProjectOrder his book Wrongful Convictions Cases & Materials 2d ed. here
Cheah Wui Ling
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore
Daniel Ehighalua
Nigerian Barrister
Jessica S. Henry
Associate Professor of Justice Studies, Montclair University
Carey D. Hoffman
Director of Digital Communications, Ohio Innocence Project@OIPCommunicati1
Shiyuan Huang
Associate Professor, Shandong University Law School; Visiting Scholar, University of Cincinnati College of Law
C Ronald Huff
Professor of Criminology, Law & Society and Sociology, University of California-Irvine
Phil Locke
Science and Technology Advisor, Ohio Innocence Project and Duke Law Wrongful Convictions Clinic
Dr. Carole McCartney
Reader in Law, Faculty of Business and Law, Northumbria University
Nancy Petro
Author and Advocate Order her book False Justice here
Kana Sasakura
Professor, Faculty of Law, Konan University Innocence Project Japan
Dr. Robert Schehr
Professor, Department of Criminology & Criminal Justice, Northern Arizona University; Executive Director, Arizona Innocence Project
Ulf Stridbeck
Professor of Law, Faculty of Law, University of Oslo, Norway
Martin Yant
Author and Private Investigator Order his book Presumed Guilty here-
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