Examples Of Exonerees
Public perception of exonerees
Wrongful convictions are essentially the miscarriage of justice brought upon an individual deriving from a criminal proceeding. It is when the defendant is convicted of a crime that they did not commit (Gould, Hail-Jares, Carrano, 2014). The error of the judgement is usually not proven until the individual has served a large portion of their jail sentence. Eyewitness misidentification, improper forensics, false confessions and informants (snitches) are the main contributing causes of wrongful convictions. Exonerees are the individuals who have had their convictions overturned. The exonerees can claim compensation as well as any lost wages whilst serving their jail sentence. When researchers ask the public’s perception of wrongful convictions, they found that their knowledge on the subject is very minimal. The public claim that the basis of what little knowledge they have on the subject, comes from the news (Blandisi, 2012). This shows that the media, popular culture as well as public opinion are constantly challenging the public perceptions on wrongful convictions. Racial stereotypes, class and prejudices are the main factors in which the public perceive to be the reason why there are so many wrongful convictions. It has only been in the recent decades that DNA testing has proven the innocents of hundreds …show more content…
of wrongfully convicted people.
The importance of conducting research in the public’s perception of exonerees is to see which factors influence their views (whether it be age, gender, socioeconomic status), to the specific attitudes they hold regarding compensation and apologies, and also
the stigmatisation of exonerees.
There are a range of different factors in which influences an individuals attitude toward wrongful convictions. According to Lambert, Camp, Clarke and Jiang (2011) research shows that age, gender, socioeconomic status, level of education and race can influence their views on the death penalty. Zalman et al. (2012) study in 2005, conducted their research through surveys, regarding wrongful convictions. Data collections were in the form of random household telephone numbers. Out of the 3,755 verified numbers, 755 individuals completed the survey. Zalman et al. (2012) survey questions consisted of, “how often do you think wrongful convictions occur?” “How reliable is the system of: police officials, forensics, prosecutors, judges, juries, and defense attorneys?” and lastly, “do wrongful convictions occur frequently enough to justify major change in the criminal justice system?” the main results found, showed that 57.4% of the interviewees believed that wrongful convictions occur frequently enough so as to need major change in the criminal justice system. The majority of the support had come from those who are non-white, female, a lower level of education and those who are unmarried. The results of this show that the public perceptions of the wrongful convictions can lead to reforms as the reformers can draw on the citizen’s opinion as a resource so as to push for legislation; which can lead to a decrease in the amounts of wrongful convictions.
Wrongful convictions are essentially the miscarriage of justice brought upon an individual deriving from a criminal proceeding. It is when the defendant is convicted of a crime that they did not commit (Gould, Hail-Jares, Carrano, 2014). The error of the judgement is usually not proven until the individual has served a large portion of their jail sentence. Eyewitness misidentification, improper forensics, false confessions and informants (snitches) are the main contributing causes of wrongful convictions. Exonerees are the individuals who have had their convictions overturned. The exonerees can claim compensation as well as any lost wages whilst serving their jail sentence. When researchers ask the public’s perception of wrongful convictions, they found that their knowledge on the subject is very minimal. The public claim that the basis of what little knowledge they have on the subject, comes from the news (Blandisi, 2012). This shows that the media, popular culture as well as public opinion are constantly challenging the public perceptions on wrongful convictions. Racial stereotypes, class and prejudices are the main factors in which the public perceive to be the reason why there are so many wrongful convictions. It has only been in the recent decades that DNA testing has proven the innocents of hundreds …show more content…
of wrongfully convicted people.
The importance of conducting research in the public’s perception of exonerees is to see which factors influence their views (whether it be age, gender, socioeconomic status), to the specific attitudes they hold regarding compensation and apologies, and also
the stigmatisation of exonerees.
There are a range of different factors in which influences an individuals attitude toward wrongful convictions. According to Lambert, Camp, Clarke and Jiang (2011) research shows that age, gender, socioeconomic status, level of education and race can influence their views on the death penalty. Zalman et al. (2012) study in 2005, conducted their research through surveys, regarding wrongful convictions. Data collections were in the form of random household telephone numbers. Out of the 3,755 verified numbers, 755 individuals completed the survey. Zalman et al. (2012) survey questions consisted of, “how often do you think wrongful convictions occur?” “How reliable is the system of: police officials, forensics, prosecutors, judges, juries, and defense attorneys?” and lastly, “do wrongful convictions occur frequently enough to justify major change in the criminal justice system?” the main results found, showed that 57.4% of the interviewees believed that wrongful convictions occur frequently enough so as to need major change in the criminal justice system. The majority of the support had come from those who are non-white, female, a lower level of education and those who are unmarried. The results of this show that the public perceptions of the wrongful convictions can lead to reforms as the reformers can draw on the citizen’s opinion as a resource so as to push for legislation; which can lead to a decrease in the amounts of wrongful convictions.