Another high-profile case of mistaken identity recently played out in Nashville. Police officers, acting on bad information, raided a family home at 6:05 a.m. They apparently knocked but gave the family no time to answer before knocking their door down with a ram. Can...
Month: August 2020
Many police interrogation techniques are causing false confessions
False confessions are a real danger in the criminal justice system. According to the National Registry of Exonerations, 12% of all exonerations since 1989 involved a false confession. According to the Innocence Project, that number goes up to 62% when considering...
Should a criminal record be a life sentence to poverty?
Did you know that one in every three Americans has some type of criminal record? That’s 70 million people. Unfortunately, having a criminal record is extremely stigmatized, and it can keep you in poverty for a long time. According to the Clean Slate Initiative, nearly...
Kicked off the jury because she thinks Black lives matter
When prosecutors and defense attorneys pick a jury, they can ask any relevant question of the potential jurors. When a potential juror's answer indicates they cannot be impartial, the lawyer can legally keep them off the jury. In addition, each side gets a limited...
Innocent man held in jail for 3 years on DNA mix-up
When it comes down to it, one of the most unfair aspects of our criminal justice system may be that people are held before trial. Some of those people -- many of those people -- are completely innocent. Unfortunately, bail can be assessed in part on the apparent...