Conviction

Recidivism is a term in reference to rehabilitation and reintegration. However, to full comprehension the concept, we must analyze the meaning of recidivism to precisely know it’s significant to either of these corrective approaches. Let’s examine the word recidivism, which the dictionary defines as a method where an individual whose has previously committed a criminal act goes back to their bad habit forming tendencies. These tendencies can involve criminal activities such as “a killing,…

When a Suspect and a Victim Become Friends On January 16th, 1985, Ronald Cotton was convicted of the two counts of burglary and two counts of rape. He pleaded not guilty throughout the trial, but he was found guilty by the court. There were many factors that sent him to prison, such as: his prior criminal record, the three factors that can influence an officer’s use of discretion, the evidence against him, and more. After 10 years in prison, he was exonerated by DNA testing. Not long after,…

Forensic evidence is depicted as a greatly reliable form of evidence. However, forensic evidence may be inaccurate due to numerous factors rising the number of innocent people being imprisoned. This could be due to errors or misconduct by analysts, the use of unproven methods and improper interpretation of this evidence. The series “Making a Murderer, has raised questions about the actions and motives of law enforcement. investigators have found remarkable evidence from Steven Avery’s case,…

The change blindness phenomenon has a lot of practical implication in our daily lives. In a study, Change blindness and eyewitness memory, Davies and Hine (2007) conducted an experiment to test the recall ability of participants. In this experiment 40 men and 40 women were made to watch an enactment of a burglary where the burglars face changes half way. Half the participants were instructed to remember the burglar and the other half were given any specific instructions. When the participants…

“In the name of the father” is based on the true story about Gerry Conlon, who was wrongfully imprisoned in England for a terrorist bombing. Gerry was taken into custody, along with his friends and family, and admitted the crime after the police threatened to kill his father. His friends and family also admitted to the crime, but only after police force and torture while in custody. He and his family was falsely imprisoned and both Annie (Gerry’s auntie) and Giuseppe Conlon were convicted for…

The law regarding wrongful death in South Carolina is contained in the South Caroline Code of Laws (Chapter 51, Article 1). It defines wrongful death as occurring when an individual dies through “the wrongful act, neglect or default of another” and details who can bring wrongful death lawsuits and the nature of damages which can be recovered. What is Wrongful Death? Wrongful death can occur through either the negligence or intentional act of another person. Negligence could be found, for…

addition to potentially facing fines and jail time, those who are convicted of driving under the influence in Florida may also lose their driving privileges. The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles points out that a first-time DUI conviction may result in a driver’s license revocation for between 180 days and one year. For many people, this is a significant inconvenience, which may impact their ability to work, get their kids to school and conduct other everyday activities.…

exonerees are persons of color (CNN). So what’s causing innocent people to serve time that they don’t deserve? There’s many different reasons to explain this problem we have in our justice system. In my opinion, the alarmingly large numbers of wrongful convictions each year are due to racial tensions, problems with DNA analysis, and lastly, false eyewitness confessions. Many people believe race plays a big…

Heroic Conviction The tales of heroes have always fascinated the minds of men. They have been known to leave their listener, upon hearing of such strength, feeling empowered to live heroically themselves. Perhaps learning of the stories of two martyrs, both by the name of Thomas—Thomas Becket and Thomas More—was what prompted Peter Glenville and Fred Zinnemann to use their God-given talents of creative vision and film making craftsmanship to bring to life and pass on the legacy of these valiant…

Professional and institutional misconduct is one of the many factors stated above that proves that the Canadian criminal justice system just isn't doing enough to prevent wrongful convictions. Unprofessional conduct on part of the police…is an important factor in the wrongful convictions (Huff et al. 1996, as cited in Campbell & Denov, 2016, p.230). In building their case against a suspect, the police may suppress, lose, misinterpret, or overlook evidence that may otherwise prove the suspect's…