The Wrongful Convictions Reader

by Russell D. Covey (Editor), Valena E Beety (Contributor)

Fueled by more than 2,000 exonerations of wrongfully convicted men and women, the "innocence revolution" has shaken the criminal justice system to its core. By gathering the leading research, law, and policy analysis into one volume, The Wrongful Convictions Reader explores the core contributing factors to wrongful false confessions, witness misidentifications, cognitive bias, junk science, police and prosecutorial misconduct, racial bias, and ineffective assistance of counsel. The second edition provides an expanded treatment of certain critical topics. The reader now includes an entire chapter devoted to race and wrongful convictions and provides expanded treatment of the intersections between gender, sexual orientation, and disability and wrongful conviction. The addition of these topics in expanded form creates new options for instructors to explore timely topics in the field of compelling concern to many contemporary students. As before, the book remains more than a mere 'reader' of literature in the field, but rather a book that can serve as the principal text in doctrinal as well as experiential courses. Each chapter is divided into three sections that readings, current law overview―which summarizes the key cases in the area; and legal materials, exercises, and media―which provides relevant experiential activities. Examples from the legal materials, exercises, and media sections

728 pages, Paperback

Published January 1, 2023

Reviews

[Geoff Davidian · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recommend this book as background to reporters trying to put individual cases of wrongful conviction into perspective. The instances of corrupt prosecutors, police and judges failing to act to bring speedy resolution to cases is more commonplace than one might expect.