Innocence Commissions

Since the Innocence Project and other similar organizations have been established, the steps toward true reform of the criminal justice system with regard to the exoneration of the innocents around the nation has been positively impacted. From the perspective of the local, state and federal systems however this new wave of legal cases and procedure has somewhat inconvenienced the already impacted court systems. Since the Justice For All Act was passed by Congress and signed into law by our current president, George W. Bush, in 2004, the progress of innocence commissions popping up all around the nation has shown that there is a true need for a new department.

The presence of such commissions would take the responsibility off the courts and prevent these cases from (1) being carelessly rushed through, and (2) bogging down the system with yet more cases for review. The work of criminal justice reformers will hopefully continue to make progress in every state utilizing the JFAA of 2004 as a vehicle of reform. The Act has provisions for the allowance of funding and requisite review status to allow for such reforms. It is up to the states at this point to conform to federal legislation.

Kantian v. Utilitarian

I have assumed all this time that any reader of this blog would feel as passionately as I do about the injustice caused by such occurrences within our justice system. Well, I was wrong. Recently I read an excerpt of Jeffrie G. Murphy’s, Marxism and Retribution focusing on the philosophy behind the justification of punishment in general, and one of the sections discussed the opposing views surrounding the justification of punishing the innocent. I thought it would be appropriate to introduce both sides of the coin on this issue as objectively as possible. Kantian views are based on the belief of treating persons as ends in themselves rather than simply a means to an end. Utilitarian justification of punishment lies within the total social result. An example of how these two would differ is:

Kantian – each wrongfully convicted person has a right to exoneration and a right to become free.

Utilitarian – the value of punishment is instrumental to deterrence, thus a wrongfully convicted person has served as an instrument, of deterrence, to show society that if someone commits a criminal act they will be punished.

There is in my opinion a fundamental error with the utilitarian view which would take more than an internet blog to explain however I feel it is apparent. The point however was to hopefully enlighten my readers of the contradicting theories relating inherently to the topic of this blog. Just think of a society where the government’s reputation meant more than true justice. Thankfully, reform in the opposite direction is in progress today.

Forensic Validity

The most current hot topic within the community of reform relating to wrongful convictions is that of an anticipated review of the forensic sciences and their uses in the United States relating to the criminal conviction procedure. The community pushing for reform is fuel by the astonishing fact that after nearly 2 decades of integral application of these sciences, we still have no formal legitimacy or regulation in place to prevent innocent people from being locked away.

This review will reveal findings and recommendations from the Congress appointed commission. The belief of the Innocence Project is that it will assist in ensuring the criminal justice system and society that we are using ‘sound science’ with the vision that the review will call for further review in order to set standards and regulations to validate certain disciplines and keep them honest.

In my opinion this is what government is for. We get so caught up in whether X should be allowed to marry Y and whether people are talking on the phone while driving. If our government prioritized the criminal justice reform they use so diligently in their campaigns for re-election we might just be able to make some strides. Right?

The Death Penalty and the Innocent

"The innocence issue is more cut and dry than other arguments against the death penalty. We have seen living breathing examples of people who have been wrongfully convicted and exonerated."

Kelly Henry, a Tennesse Federal Defender is quoted in the fourth volume of the Innocence Project In Print. The quote illustrates the position of the Innocence Project on the issue of the death penalty. The idea here is the obvious permenance of what is done if a wrongfully convicted person is put to death such as Sedley Alley, who was denied review of biological evidence that would have proven his innocence. He was executed in 2006.

Kirk Bloodsworth. Another real life example of the need for reform in the criminal justice system surrounding review of evidence. Bloodsworth would become the first person on Death Row to be exonerated by DNA evidence review. As Henry says above, it is truely cut and dry. There is just no justification for the use of such a permenant punishement. We can't bring back the dead and say, "oops sorry." Isn't it bad enough at this point that we take innocent lives and lock them up, black tag them, and rob them of there liberty without good reason?

Current Climate of Reform

For those reading this blog with little knowledge of whether the efforts toward a reform of the sentencing and review process has actually made a difference, this post will shed a little light on the progress that has been made. This year alone many individual states as well as our federal government have made strides in shaping a more just system by passing laws that either allow or require certain levels of review for those with a legitimate claim of innocence. Forty-Four (44) states now have some form of legislation that grants access to DNA and biological evidence which can be re-examined to prove innocence. In the coming year there will be the release a review on forensic science in the criminal justice system. Presumably the review will shed some light on its effectiveness and gravity on the conviction process and its flaws.

In light of recent times bringing mostly negative news that our country could possibly be falling apart at the seams, it is refreshing to see some positive movement towards reform. Positive outlook seems to be a commodity anymore, but that is not the case in this movement. Organizations working on these exonerations and wider ranging reform of the process itself.

225 Exonerated!!!!!!!!!!! That is five more than when this blog was started and 12 this year!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Cause Exemplified

As a subscriber to the Innocence Project’s e-mail updater, I recently read this article and felt this case to be just one of many cases that could serve as a ‘poster-child’ case, exemplifying the need for and true justice underlying reform efforts within the criminal justice/prison system. After having served 20 years wrongfully convicted for the rape and murder of a 14 year-old girl, Steven Barnes has been released following Judge’s orders. A joint motion between the District Attorney’s Office and the Innocence Project was granted showing that a review in this case was appropriate. The two organizations worked together throughout the review process in which DNA evidence was examined and found to not match that of Mr. Barnes. He had been convicted on a ‘shaky’ eyewitness testimony and scientifically invalid forensic evidence including: jean pattern imprinting and soil comparison.

Bellow is the link to the Steven Barnes Walks Free Gallery

http://photos.syracuse.com/gallery/4456/Steven%20Barnes%20Walks%20Free

As part of my efforts to educate myself and any viewer of this blog, I have found a compelling side-topic of prison reform inherently related to the issue of wrongful convictions. The established disparity in numbers of people convicted based on racial profiling and other illegal and unconstitutional classifications have perpetuated a demographic highly concentrated by minorities, and more significantly African Americans.

Despite an exponentially lower concentration within the free society, African Americans comprise of 9x the number of Caucasians within the prison system, according to May 2000 findings of the Human Rights Watch.* Racial disparity in the justice system has been a problem as far back as United States history reaches. And regardless of the major breakthroughs and movements toward a society of equality, we still have a justice system that sees in black and white, says every statistic reviewed.

For additional insight check the above book out at your local library. Race to Incarcerate: The Sentencing Project by: Marc Mauer

*http://www.hrw.org/reports/2000/usa/