More than half of exonerations due to misconduct, study shows

[Stevicus]

More than half of exonerations involve misconduct, analysis shows

Sept. 15 (UPI) -- Over the last three decades, more than half of all U.S. criminal convictions involving innocent people -- who were later exonerated -- involved some kind of misconduct by police or prosecutors, a criminal justice report showed Tuesday.

The report was the result of an analysis of 2,400 cases listed in the National Registry of Exonerations from 1989 through Feb. 27, 2019. Of those cases, misconduct was involved 54% of the time, it said.

Experts at the University of California Irvine Newkirk Center for Science & Society, the University of Michigan Law School and the Michigan State University College of Law maintain the registry and wrote Tuesday's report.

"As calls to reimagine the nation's criminal justice system grow, these new data underscore the need for more discipline and professionalism by police and prosecutors," a release accompanying the report said.

Researchers said they documented misconduct at various stages of criminal cases, including witness tampering, misconduct in interrogations, evidence fabrication, exculpatory evidence concealment and trial misconduct.

Of the exonerations reviewed, 30% involved prosecutors, 34% police, 3% forensic analysts and 2% child welfare workers. The report also noted that misconduct was more likely to occur in exonerated murder cases (72%) than non-violent crimes (32%). In white-collar crimes, prosecutorial misconduct is more than five times as frequent as misconduct by police.

Following months of protests against racial bias in U.S. policing, the researchers said they also reviewed demographic data and found that later-exonerated Black defendants are more likely to be victims of misconduct (57%) than White defendants (52%).

The divide is even greater in exonerated death penalty cases, which finds 87% misconduct for Black defendants and 68% for Whites. The difference is greatest in drug crimes, 47% to 22%.

The report recommends "audio recordings for all interrogations and lineups, greater supervision, leadership and work cultures, more resources to allow law enforcement to do their jobs properly and better enforcement of existing rules."

It also mentioned that "The great majority of wrongful convictions are never discovered, so the scope of the problem is much greater than these numbers show."

 

[Left Coast]

What systemic racism?

 

[Revoltingest]

More than half of exonerations involve misconduct, analysis shows









The report recommends "audio recordings for all interrogations and lineups, greater supervision, leadership and work cultures, more resources to allow law enforcement to do their jobs properly and better enforcement of existing rules."

It also mentioned that "The great majority of wrongful convictions are never discovered, so the scope of the problem is much greater than these numbers show."

We have this problem in part because prosecutors & cops
aren't sanctioned for doing intentional wrong, eg, Mike Nifong.
Those in the system are above the system.

 

[Revoltingest]

What systemic racism?

I caution against reducing the problem to "racism".
Consider.....

Following months of protests against racial bias in U.S. policing, the researchers said they also reviewed demographic data and found that later-exonerated Black defendants are more likely to be victims of misconduct (57%) than White defendants (52%).

To eliminate racism would address a mere 5% disparity.
That's not good enuf.
This points to a bigger fundamental problem to cure.

 

[Left Coast]

I caution against reducing the problem to "racism".
Consider.....

To eliminate racism would address a mere 5% disparity.
That's not good enuf.
This points to a bigger fundamental problem to cure.

Complicated problems are usually multifactorial. You cited the smallest disparity of all the ones calculated. I contend that racism is a problem, not the only one. Fair?

 

[Revoltingest]

Complicated problems are usually multifactorial. You cited the smallest disparity of all the ones calculated. I contend that racism is a problem, not the only one. Fair?

I can live with that.

 

[Stevicus]

We have this problem in part because prosecutors & cops
aren't sanctioned for doing intentional wrong, eg, Mike Nifong.
Those in the system are above the system.

True, and also the lack of transparency.

 

[Revoltingest]

True, and also the lack of transparency.

And lack of interest by the public.

 

[Stevicus]

And lack of interest by the public.

I would attribute it more to blind faith in the system. Not all, but large segments of the public desperately want to believe that the system works, that cops and prosecutors are all honorable public servants, etc.

 

[Revoltingest]

I would attribute it more to blind faith in the system. Not all, but large segments of the public desperately want to believe that the system works, that cops and prosecutors are all honorable public servants, etc.

When problems are exposed, I see very little interest in them.

 

[ImmortalFlame]

I would attribute it more to blind faith in the system. Not all, but large segments of the public desperately want to believe that the system works, that cops and prosecutors are all honorable public servants, etc.

The American criminal justice system is set up to get a confession and a conviction, by almost any means necessary. The amount of public funding given to the police, and the amount of work they are expected to do to justify it, not the mention the fact that American police are within their rights to lie to suspects in order to get a confession, makes misconduct and miscarriages of justice inevitable.

It would take quite a substantial change in the core philosophy and approach of American policing to bring about significant change.

 

[Father Heathen]

And lack of interest by the public.

Or worse, disbelief due to culturally insistent reverence.

 

[Tambourine]

I caution against reducing the problem to "racism".
Consider.....

To eliminate racism would address a mere 5% disparity.
That's not good enuf.
This points to a bigger fundamental problem to cure.

I caution against designating the mere mention of racism as a "reduction to racism".

 

[sun rise]

We have this problem in part because prosecutors & cops
aren't sanctioned for doing intentional wrong, eg, Mike Nifong.
Those in the system are above the system.

We're sharing one brain again.

 

[Revoltingest]

I caution against designating the mere mention of racism as a "reduction to racism".

Thank you for participating in the discussion.

 

[Revoltingest]

We're sharing one brain again.

Hey, when it's my turn again, would you return the
brain in a less angry state? I know that political strife
is adversely affecting you these days, but I must rub
bacon all over it just to regain equanimity.

 

[sun rise]

Hey, when it's my turn again, would you return the
brain in a less angry state? I know that political strife
is adversely affecting you these days, but I must rub
bacon all over it just to regain equanimity.

I actually feel a bit better. I could go out today and not cut but yank hard on something I consider a weed and my wife loves. It sends out runners and it's much more satisfying to YANK those runners rather than trimming them with garden sheers.

 

[Heyo]

And lack of interest by the public.

Which has changed recently, courtesy of BLM.

 

[Revoltingest]

Which has changed recently, courtesy of BLM.

Aye, tis a goal of BLM that I agree with.