Seeking an elusive truth

Flaws in criminal justice system can lead to errant convictions

We the people, in prison

The prisoner population in the US is large.  Roughly 1.6 million citizens were imprisoned in 2010 and another 1.4 were under supervision of parole and probation officers.  The US also imprisons more people per capita than any other comparable nation; about 500 people out of every 100,000 people. Only recently has the prison population seen a decrease but even then, it is a minimal drop.  The decrease has been attributed to everything from new thinking in rehabilitation methods to correctional budget cuts.  None-the-less, given the size of the prison population, mistakes pertaining to the guilt or innocence of defendants will be made.

The dream of unbiased justice

The expectation for excellence in the criminal justice system is very high when it comes to investigating and prosecuting crime.  On one hand society demands law and order and for the right of victims to attain justice.  At the same time, we require the standard of reasonable doubt to balance our thinking.  If not, many innocent people might end up being wrongfully imprisoned. Famous for this sentiment is English jurist Sir William Blackstone who commented “It is better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer”; words taken to heart by the founding fathers.  However, because the justice system is made up of people, it will generate its fair share of errors, oversights and even malicious intents and invariably, innocent people are sentenced to prison or even death.  

Technology won’t solve all inequities

The advent of DNA technology has changed the way cases are investigated and adjudicated.  DNA has also exonerated hundreds of wrongfully imprisoned citizens.  Groups like the Innocence Project have dedicated themselves to bringing this technology to bear in cases where the potential for error is great.  But DNA is not always a component of decisions that wrongfully land defendants in jail.  Academics have identified several other factors that cause errors in cases that can lead to errant convictions.

Human imperfections

Identifying the truth can be challenging when you realize the outcome of these critical factors hinge upon the integrity, professionalism and unseen motives of the people involved.

1. Eyewitness misidentification. Research shows that human recall is not infallible.
2. Faulty Forensic Science.  The science and the scientist are not always credible. 
3. Bogus confessions/admissions.  Defendants ignorantly self-incriminate or are coerced to hide the truth.  
4. Government Misconduct.  Measurements of success (convictions) can cloud the judgment of the people who make up the system. 
5. Informants.  The motivation and truthfulness of informants is not always known.  
6. System stress.  Overworked and underfunded defense council perpetuates bad outcomes.  

www.theguardian.com

Moving toward a better system

Making justice accessible to all in need is a noble endeavor and efforts to form a more perfect justice system are underway.  Contributing to this goal, professional investigative firms like CSI can act on behalf of the defense before the case goes to trial.  Validating or deconstructing the facts as gathered by law enforcement can make or break the outcome of the case. Investigation of cases post-conviction can also validate the legitimacy and integrity of suspect decisions.  In the long view, this fact checking can challenge the status quo of the criminal justice system and raise its standard of excellence.  It may also prevent or reverse undesirable outcomes along the way.