scrutiny from potential employers‚ and ostracization from their community. According to C. Ronald Huff‚ director of the Criminal Justice Research Center at Ohio State University‚ roughly 10‚000 United States residents who are not guilty of a crime are convicted every year‚ a "conservative" estimate of 0.5% of the 1‚993‚880 index crimes used for his research that was completed in 1990 . Even more alarming are the 138 Death Row inmates who have been exonerated sine 1973 as a result of further DNA testing;
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is put to death for a crime they committed. While most americans continue to support execution‚ there is always the few who are against it. One of the main arguments against capital punishment is that someone can wrongfully be charged for a crime they did not commit and then wrongfully have their life taken away. In the film‚ The Life of David Gale‚ the director‚ Alan Parker‚ tells of the story of a man who is sentenced to capital punishment for a crime‚ which he makes the audience believe‚ did
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best way to castigate a criminal? Of the thirteen states that do not have the death penalty‚ is crime more likely to occur there than in states that have the death penalty? (The Economist‚ April 1‚ 1995‚ p. 19) Have there been criminals wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death row? Does the death penalty really scare criminals off and make them think twice about committing a crime? Is the death penalty fair to everyone‚ even the minorities and the poor? How does mental illness and retardation
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in who goes to prison. Weak and fabricated evidence is seldom looked at in the eyes of the court. Approximately one case in twenty will go to trial. This effect will cause numerous criminals to walk freely as they choose. The pros are being convicted and tried for the crime and the cons are being offered a simple way out. The effects of this cause is being set free to commit another crime. There is not enough evidence to convict a criminal Plea bargaining is a second major
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“Everyone loves a witch hunt as long as it’s someone else’s witch being hunted.” - Walter Kirn. From October to May in 1692 the killing of nine-teen innocent people took place in Salem‚ Massachusetts Bay Colony. This was called the Salem Witch Trials. This massive hysteria all started when a group of young groups started to act out. The girls started to scream‚ throw things‚ and contorted their bodies in unnatural positions. Also‚ they complained of a fever and severe pain. The girls were then examined
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For centuries‚ cases have existed in the judicial system whereby convicted criminals have been released when new evidence surfaced‚ thus proving their innocence. Although individuals proven to be guilty can be released when conclusive evidence is revealed‚ individuals deemed non-guilty cannot be convicted when new evidence emerges. This is because of the double jeopardy clause of the Fifth Amendment; the law has recognized “the maxim nemo debet bis vexari pro eadem causa‚ “no one should be tried
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been turned over to his defence lawyer. (trial.http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/phillion/) due to the fact that Phillion was wrongfully accused he should not have even had an appeal. Witness testimony Phillion was charged with the murder and during his 1972 trial four witnesses testified they saw Phillion in Ottawa on the day of the murder. Phillion was convicted and sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of ten years before parole (http://forejustice.org/db/Phillion--Romeo.html) in
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False Memories There are a significant number of people tried for crimes that they did not commit based off of another’s repressed memory. Elizabeth Loftus made it her goal to find justice for those wrongfully accused. It is hard to say whether or not those accused are truly innocent or not‚ but what we can say is that too many people are being locked away without all the right evidence; just another’s memory of what might have happened. Loftus found it unlikely that any one person could forget
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argument that using false evidence against innocent people causes them to internalize the blame for the act which increases their risk to confess (Kostelnik‚ & Reppucci‚ 2009). The study also found that a disproportionate number of juveniles are convicted based on false confessions (Kostelnik‚ & Reppucci‚ 2009). The interrogation process is the same for both juvenile and adult offenders as they are questioned using the same manipulative and coercive method (Kostelnik‚ & Reppucci‚ 2009). However‚ it
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justice system. By examining the burden of proof‚ the effects of corruption and relevant Canadian cases‚ one will understand that the criminal justice system if flawed and the wrongfully convicted deserve justice. Firstly‚ the difficulty of proving someone is either guilty or innocent may cause one to be wrongfully convicted. One can be mistaken for another based on evidence that is invalid or irrelevant to the case. “A look-alike innocent person can be mistaken for the person who committed the crime”
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