Author: Adrian Hoel Publisher: ISBN: 9781921185816 Category : Compensation for judicial error Languages : en Pages : 6
Book Description
This paper examines the causes of wrongful imprisonment, the nature of losses and the applicability of international approaches and conventions. Definitions of wrongful conviction vary internationally, as do the circumstances and amount of compensation. Australian states and territories can make discretionary ex gratia payments, although determination of compensation amounts is unclear. Compensation levels for wrongful conviction in Australia are not as generous as tortious claims. The current system of ex gratia payments that exists in all Australian jurisdictions (other than the Australian Capital Territory) is arbitrary. The introduction of dedicated legislation or specific guidelines for wrongful conviction would help bring these Australian jurisdictions into line with international human rights best practice. This paper considers the scope of claims made in Australia through some key case studies. However, there is currently no reliable national data on the prevalence of wrongful convictions in Australia; overseas research suggests wrongful convictions may be less rare than we assume.
Author: Myles Frederick McLellan Publisher: Eliva Press ISBN: 9789975347587 Category : Languages : en Pages : 328
Book Description
The plight of the wrongly convicted is gaining prominence with the growing awareness of the prodigious harms to innocent persons at the hands of the criminal justice system. Most of the attention, both scholarly and legislatively, has been focused on the causes of wrongful convictions and the need to free the innocent. What needs to now be addressed more comprehensively is the issue of how to provide redress to those persons whose lives have been inexorably damaged and how to best compensate them in their efforts to rebuild a life. The available remedies in Canada to pursue compensation include civil litigation for malicious prosecution, negligent investigation, a Charter breach and the highly politicized exercise of discretion by a government to make a payment without acknowledging liability. Except for the very few, none of these remedies are very helpful. Liberal democracies like Canada are honour bound if not constitutionally mandated to provide for innocence compensation far beyond the onerous and cost prohibitive pursuit of litigation against the State and the current highly secretive and inadequate executive remedy requiring an elusive exercise of mercy. About the Author: Dr. Myles Frederick McLellan (LL.B (J.D); LL.M (Osgoode); Ph.D. (Anglia Ruskin - Law) is a Professor of Law and Justice at Algoma University in Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada. The focus of his research, writing and teaching is criminal justice. He is the Director and Founder of the Innocence Compensation Project and is the Editor-in-Chief of the Wrongful Conviction Law Review. He is on the Policy Review Committee of the Canadian Criminal Justice Association. He has also been a Commissioner of Police and a Federal Crown Counsel.
Author: Wojciech Jasiński Publisher: Taylor & Francis ISBN: 1000859312 Category : Law Languages : en Pages : 222
Book Description
This book presents a comprehensive comparative analysis of the substantive and procedural aspects of compensation for wrongful convictions in European countries and the USA, as well as the standard derived from the case law of the European Court of Human Rights. The collection draws comparative conclusions as to the similarities and differences between selected jurisdictions and assesses the effectiveness of the national compensation schemes. This enables the designing of an optimum model of compensation, offering accessibility and effectiveness to the victims of miscarriages of justice and being acceptable to jurisdictions based on common law, and civil law traditions, as well as inquisitorial and adversarial types of criminal process. Moreover, the discussion of the minimum European standard as established in the case law of the European Court of Human Rights enables readers to identify how the Strasbourg Court can contribute to strengthening the compensation scheme. The book will be essential reading for students, academics and policymakers working in the areas of criminal law and procedure.
Author: Lisa Idzikowski Publisher: Greenhaven Publishing LLC ISBN: 1534505172 Category : Young Adult Nonfiction Languages : en Pages : 128
Book Description
Since 1989, there have been over 2,200 exonerations in the United States. These have resulted from a number of factors, including the discovery of new evidence, perjury, false identification, and bad forensic evidence. Even when an individual is exonerated, is it possible to compensate them for their loss of time and money? This volume looks at the issue from varying perspectives, exploring causes of wrongful convictions, ways to increase exonerations for those who were unjustly imprisoned, strategies to decrease the number of wrongful convictions going forward, and appropriate compensation for those who have lost years of their lives.
Author: Marvin Zalman Publisher: Routledge ISBN: 1135077444 Category : Social Science Languages : en Pages : 334
Book Description
Wrongful Conviction and Criminal Justice Reform is an important addition to the literature and teaching on innocence reform. This book delves into wrongful convictions studies but expands upon them by offering potential reforms that would alleviate the problem of wrongful convictions in the criminal justice system. Written to be accessible to students, Wrongful Conviction and Criminal Justice Reform is a main text for wrongful convictions courses or a secondary text for more general courses in criminal justice, political science, and law school innocence clinics.
Author: Brandon L. Garrett Publisher: Harvard University Press ISBN: 0674060989 Category : Art Languages : en Pages : 376
Book Description
On January 20, 1984, Earl Washington—defended for all of forty minutes by a lawyer who had never tried a death penalty case—was found guilty of rape and murder in the state of Virginia and sentenced to death. After nine years on death row, DNA testing cast doubt on his conviction and saved his life. However, he spent another eight years in prison before more sophisticated DNA technology proved his innocence and convicted the guilty man. DNA exonerations have shattered confidence in the criminal justice system by exposing how often we have convicted the innocent and let the guilty walk free. In this unsettling in-depth analysis, Brandon Garrett examines what went wrong in the cases of the first 250 wrongfully convicted people to be exonerated by DNA testing. Based on trial transcripts, Garrett’s investigation into the causes of wrongful convictions reveals larger patterns of incompetence, abuse, and error. Evidence corrupted by suggestive eyewitness procedures, coercive interrogations, unsound and unreliable forensics, shoddy investigative practices, cognitive bias, and poor lawyering illustrates the weaknesses built into our current criminal justice system. Garrett proposes practical reforms that rely more on documented, recorded, and audited evidence, and less on fallible human memory. Very few crimes committed in the United States involve biological evidence that can be tested using DNA. How many unjust convictions are there that we will never discover? Convicting the Innocent makes a powerful case for systemic reforms to improve the accuracy of all criminal cases.
Author: Publisher: McSweeney's ISBN: 1940450918 Category : History Languages : en Pages : 248
Book Description
On September 30, 2003, Calvin was declared innocent and set free from Angola State Prison, after serving 22 years for a crime he did not commit. Like many other exonerees, Calvin experienced a new world that was not open to him. Hitting the streets without housing, money, or a change of clothes, exonerees across America are released only to fend for themselves. In the tradition of Studs Terkel's oral histories, this book collects the voices and stories of the exonerees for whom life — inside and out — is forever framed by extraordinary injustice
Author: James R. Acker Publisher: ISBN: 9781594607530 Category : Clemency Languages : en Pages : 0
Book Description
This volume addresses issues of law, science, and policy related to wrongful convictions in the American system of justice. Coverage includes the incidence, correlates, causes, and consequences of wrongful convictions, as well as recommended reforms. The materials are organized in the form of a casebook, comprising edited judicial decisions and complementary materials from law, psychology, criminal justice, and related disciplines. "Wrongful convictions are tragedies on multiple levels. By understanding how they occur, however, we can learn how to prevent them -- and better identify those that exist. This text is a valuable resource for anyone interested in advancing justice and safety through our systems of criminal justice."-- Stephen Saloom, Policy Director, Innocence Project "The ice has finally been broken. Acker and Redlich's Wrongful Conviction is the first casebook dedicated solely to the subject of wrongful convictions. It has set a high standard of excellence that will be a tough act to follow. Not only will this well-organized and easy-to-read casebook appeal to law professors who teach seminars in such subjects as wrongful convictions, criminal procedure, and psychology and the law, but it should also appeal to undergraduate professors who teach students interested in careers in law and criminal justice."-- Steven A. Drizin, Clinical Professor of Law and Legal Director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions, Northwestern University School of Law "This book sets out an important and accessible track of study. Starting with the question of what is a wrongful conviction, the authors also explain the basic features of the criminal process and evidence law, and introduce contributions from the social sciences to help our understanding of sources of error. That journey will engage all interested in understanding what can cause wrongful convictions and what can improve the quality of criminal justice."-- Brandon L. Garrett, Professor of Law, University of Virginia School of Law "Acker and Redlich provide a current and comprehensive analysis of the legal procedures and standards that produce and resolve wrongful criminal convictions. Their presentation is part handbook for lawyers, part history lesson for scholars, and part quest for policy reforms. Their coverage is engaging and broad: from false confessions and faulty eyewitness identification, to flawed forensic evidence and, ultimately, compensation for those who are exonerated. I urge all defense attorneys to read and use this book; and I beg all prosecutors to do the same. Professors around the country: assign this book to all of your students!" -- Kimberly J. Cook, Professor of Sociology and Criminology, University of North Carolina Wilmington "Acker and Redlich have succeeded admirably in achieving their goals of selecting watershed and little-known, but important cases that define and illustrate the focal issues in each area of wrongful conviction and in discussing the results of relevant social science research and their policy implications. The notes and questions following each section are excellent. The notes provide supplemental material in a condensed fashion and the questions prompt thoughtful dialogue and encourage further study. ... an outstanding scholarly contribution to the field of wrongful conviction." -- Criminal Law Bulletin "An excellent book ... It should also be on the shelf of every scholar interested in wrongful convictions, as it provides a wealth of important materials." -- Criminal Justice Review
Author: Adrian Hoel
Author: Myles Frederick McLellan
Author: Wojciech Jasiński
Author: Lisa Idzikowski
Author: Edwin Montefiore Borchard
Author: Marvin Zalman
Author: Brandon L. Garrett
Author: 
Author: James R. Acker
Author: Katherine Beckett