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Jennifer Flores

Professor Turner

ENG 114B

Hope and Redemption

The criminal justice system is an authoritative institution that is too occupied with thousand

of cases to notice when it has allowed innocent men and women to fall through its cracks. These

innocent individuals put their trust and faith in the system only to be taken advantage of and not

given the necessary help that was promised to them. This appears to be the case in todays

society with many families being torn apart and communities crumbling due to the mistakes that

could have avoided in the first place if the criminal justice system has done their job. It proves

that certain groups in power believe that the truth does not matter and bettering the system is

unnecessary and insignificant. This injustice and inequality has yet to be brought more into the

publics attention because of how society views criminals and their negative reputation. We dont

perceive anything wrong with the law as it was not made to be against humanity; in fact, we have

created this belief that the institution is trustworthy and ethical. Not knowing the truth about

individuals who have been wrongly convicted based on the absence of strong evidence, lack of

reliable witnesses, the presence of racial prejudice, or having unmotivated attorneys to prove

someones innocence. The law works to protect and guide us, however this very institution that

promises human rights, still finds a way to create a burden and cause wrongfully imprisoned

individuals to languish behind bars. These individuals are evidence that the criminal justice

system is in desperate need of reformation and improvements. A solution for this injustice can be

found within the system itself, as only from the inside can the reparation be achieved.
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During a court trial, no one knows what to expect from a judge, the lawyer, defendant, jury,

witnesses or prosecutor. Nothing is promised to the accused and the punishment is often harsh.

There are many failures and errors that can occur in courts but the problem is that the criminal

justice courts tend to depend on methods and practices that result in falsely accusing someone for

a crime they didnt commit. Much like its unlawful to not hold a trial. In the book, Convicting

the Innocent, Garrett discusses, Cases where exonerees had no trial but instead pleaded guilty.

In the remaining cases, the records had been sealed, destroyed, or lost. This all adds up to the

same pattern that incarcerates innocent people because this is the easiest way to resolve the

situation.The courts rely on a routine because of the fear of following a particular procedure

which could result in guilty people going free. However, at the end of the day, the innocent

receive the damage. In the book Stolen Stories of the Wrongfully Imprisoned Years, a story about

a man who did nineteen years in prison was falsely accused for a crime he didnt do. An so-

called witness blamed him and in his story Adam states, For nineteen years and change, I kept

on telling people, Im innocent, Im innocent and nobody would ever listen. And when I got in

the courtroom and Donna got on the stand-she looked at me and started crying. And she looked

at the jury and told the jury, I lied about this man. Corruption can be found in the trials, relying

on witnesses and unreliable procedures from police, defense lawyers, prosecutors, forensic

science, and judges have allowed cases to fall through with no good intention of taking part of

helping the defendant.

In addition to not having the right of a trial, there are some jurisdictions that refuse to

provide access to DNA testing that would prove ones innocence. Even in cases in which no

DNA testing can be done, errors are still documented. In the book, Corrupting the Innocent, it

states, What makes the trials of exonerates so fighting is weak. The case may seem uncannily
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strong. Without DNA, it can be impossible to turn back the clock on a criminal prosecutions

gone wrong. However, no one is investigating nor preventing this because truthfully the judge

and prosecutors do not face any sort of consequence for their actions hence the reason why they

can get away with it. This happens often which leads an individual to lose their case, when

jurisdictions are well aware that DNA testing can prove someones innocence. In the article,

Crime Investigation and Your Rights states, An Illinois man was recently freed after DNA

testing showed he wasn't the killer of his eight-year-old daughter and her nine-year-old friend.

He confessed to the murders but said police coerced him. He spent five years in jail awaiting

trial. Prosecutors then reported DNA testing linked another man, who is in jail in Virginia on

unrelated charges, to the crime. It is unbelievable how they can get away with this, it shows

how the court is careless with the criminal cases because they rely on the evidence they already

have, they refused to make DNA testing available for the defendant. (More supporting research

to the DNA testing paragraph)

Aside from that Garrett also provides insights to innocent people falsely confessing to

crimes they didnt do, While we do not know how often false confessions occur, there is a new

awareness among scholars, legislators, judges, prosecutors, police departments, and police

departments and the public that innocent people can falsely confess, often due to psychological

pressures placed upon them during police interrogations. Dubbed the Reid Technique, this

interrogation process is used by countless police forces who can trick the detained into admitting

guilt of a crime by merely asking a series of questions and playing off what is revealed during

the discussion. This can also prove faulty as it may even convince an individual to admit to a

crime they didnt perform if the officer using the technique willed it so. The interrogation can

take from hours to days and in the process wear an innocent man or woman down enough so they
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too believe it was truly them who committed the crime. That is what makes the technique so

powerful and yet easily misused; with the right questions and wrong answers, even the most

innocent individual could give up their life to an eternity in the system.

Although there may not be a solid estimate of the number of people who have been accused

of something they didnt do, we do know that most of the cases receive plea bargains. A plea

bargain is a lenient sentence for the defendant to prevent courts to be overcrowded. Guilty pleas

can occur to most prisoners whether they go to trial or not. Garrett states, These exonerees had

the same problem as those who did have a trial: they lacked compelling evidence that they were

innocent. This is implying that it is easier to blame someone for something they didnt do than

proving that they didnt do it. While in the documentary 13th most of the focus is on the history

of African American injustice, mass incarceration is also spoken about and referred to as

modern day slavery with the unfair prosecutions committed by the criminal justice system

growing rampant. In the film, Glenn Martin, founder of JustLeadershipUSA, critiques the

continuing inequality by staying that the systems of oppression are durable, and they tend to

reinvent themselves. Explaining how such a thing is common practice in a society that deems to

punishment to be the only solution. Not many people are receiving trials because courts have so

much in their plates and are overwhelmed that they refuse to view more cases. Unfortunately,

those who fall in that category, are destined to receive plea bargains. In fact, there is money

involved in plea bargains. People dont want to risk it, waste endless hours and end up in jail. So,

they take the plea bargain, which means they would do less time, pay what they need to pay and

get it over with. (Stronger explanation of the plea bargain paragraph).

It is unjust how some prisoners who are unrightfully found guilty after doing so many years

in prison are released without receiving anything more than an apology; their life and time
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wasted, tarnished by the system. In the Exoneree Diaries, Flowers shares a story about an

individual named Jacques who was imprisoned but later was set free after the state dropped the

charges against him because there was no real evidence to keep him there much longer. There is

no justification for this act, no human being should have to experience life in prison when they

could have received justice from the very beginning. It is the responsibility of those in power to

prevent any future mistakes and speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves.

The importance of judging ones case fairly and the right way could take time, which many

people do not have. Its easier for the suspect to accept the deal, especially in an innocent

individual. It prevents them from learning how to forgive themselves for something they didnt

do, and rather indoctrinates them to a criminal lifestyle. This very reality is quite upsetting as it

proves how the criminal justice system creates more criminals than it captures. Its like sending a

prisoner to jail, with the intention of making them a better person; it only results in turning them

into the threat that society believes them to be. In Exoneree Diaries, in the case of Kristine, she

was found guilty for a failed attempt to save her son from the fire. It states, The new evidence

was so compelling, even to prosecutors, that in 2009, they offered Kristine a way out of prison

early, without having to admit their own shortfalls-a plea deal. She could leave IWP in six years

in exchange for a guilty plea. All the plea bargain does is defeat the purpose of a fair trial and

tricks an innocent to dismiss their given right as an American citizen.

The criminal justice is all about punishing rather than helping. They seek to make people

pay for their crimes in forms of retribution, offering no form of rehabilitation that does not

benefit both the accused and society. This institution should take a new approach, one that

instead of locking away individuals and throwing away the key, should open up government

enforced programs teach these so-called criminals how to behave and reintegrate themselves into
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society. These services and programs should help rehabilitate a former prisoner by helping them

rebuilding their lives and support them every step of the way. (Improved Conclusion) Through

this method we could prevent the wrong people from turning into what the government believes

them to be, through this method real justice can be brought about, and most importantly we can

keep everyone safe as the criminal justice system intended.

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Works Cited

Fenton, Reuven. Stolen Years: Stories of the Wrongfully Imprisoned. N.p.: Tantor Media, 2015.

Print.

Flowers, Alison. Exoneree Diaries: The Fight for Innocence, Independence, and Identity.

Chicago, IL: Haymarket, 2016. Print.

Garrett, Brandon. Convicting the Innocent: Where Criminal Prosecutions Go Wrong. Cambridge,

MA: Harvard UP, 2012. Print.

13th. Dir. Ava DuVernay. 2016.