Justin Brooks
Professor, California Western School of Law; Director,
California Innocence ProjectOrder his book
Wrongful Convictions Cases & Materials 2d ed. here
Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law, National University of Singapore
Daniel Ehighalua
Nigerian Barrister
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
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
Professor, Faculty of Law, Konan University Innocence Project Japan
Professor, Department of Criminology & Criminal Justice, Northern Arizona University; Executive Director, Arizona Innocence Project
Professor of Law, Faculty of Law, University of Oslo, Norway
Author and Private Investigator
Order his book
Presumed Guilty here
Wrongful Convictions Blog 
Excellent quote which fits our daughter’s case. Except, that her defense attorney was like having another prosecutor during trial.
On the eve of the trial (past the point of no return), he took great pride in telling us he was “friends” with prosecutors and knew the judge personally (who was a former prosecutor). Her defense attorney recommended a Bench trial because the judge handled a lot of these cases and knew what to do. He didn’t have to be redundant. Our daughter was convicted! Sentenced to 11 years flat time and sex offender registry (a defacto life sentence, ramifications never discussed during trial or sentencing) for an alleged crime that never happened in a “he said, she said” case.
Later, because of their ongoing corrupt practices, the high-profile law firm was shut down by the Arizona Supreme Court. Then, the high-profile DA/Maricopa County Attorney and his chief “charging” prosecutor were both disbarred (2012) by the Arizona Supreme Court for abuse of power against judges, lawyers, officials and newspaper executives, still playing out since 2007. A sad chapter in Arizona’s history – hell-bent on self-destruction.
It is clear, that in order to restore fair and equal justice, it would seem like the legal profession needs a hard look at its professional misconduct by its lawyers/prosecutors – a state commission, rather than a Bar, to harshly discipline lawyers and raise the professional standards to that of a medical doctor. A “green” prosecutor should never be allowed to handle a case at the “start-up”/IA hearing, where an individual is facing decades in prison.
Prosecutors are dealing with lives daily by the thousands, as non-violent, first offenders are being given defacto-life sentences without a second thought. SOP (standard operating procedure) precedent set over decades dating back to the Salem-witch hunts in the U.S.
The lawyers need to be treated, like they treat the medical doctors and those in the medical profession, and have their licenses subject to be taken away, get sued personally and send the “bad” ones to prison. Those responsible for a wrongful conviction should be charged with a felony.
The lawyers and lawmakers should also intern in the jails and prisons they create laws for – a minimum of a month, including overnight stays – then we might see meaningful change.
p.s. This was about when a defense attorney takes pride in being “friends” with the prosecutors. Can’t play it both ways and fight aggressively for the client, who is to be presumed innocent.
“Prosecutors Rally Against Sentencing Reform, Say Build More Prisons”
Sentencing Law and Policy & U.S. News and World Report | 7/18/15
http://sentencing.typepad.com/sentencing_law_and_policy/2015/07/prosecutors-rally-against-sentencing-reform-say-build-more-prisons.html
“The title of this post is the headline of this notable new piece in U.S. News & World Report. Here are excerpts:
Nervous federal prosecutors attempted to rally opposition Friday to criminal sentencing reform in response to President Barack Obama’s week of issuing commutations and making pro-reform speeches….
“The federal criminal justice system is not broken,” Steve Cook, the association’s president, said at a lightly attended event in the nation’s capital. “What a huge mistake it would be,” he said, to change sentencing laws.
Cook predicted the crime rate would rise and prosecutors would lose a tool to extract information if laws were made more lenient. He also denounced reform proponents for saying nonviolent offenders are being ensnared by tough Clinton-era drug laws. “They have misled the public every time they say, ‘We’re talking about nonviolent drug offenders,’” he said. “Drug trafficking is inherently violent. … If you’re not willing to engage in violence [then] you will be out of the business quickly, or worse.” …
A lot of people who suffer from blind faith cannot understand this. The social immune system is skepticism.
Pingback: Exoneration & release stuff