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Actual Innocence: When Justice Goes Wrong and How to Make it Right

Barry Scheck,

Jim Dwyer,

Peter Neufeld

4.11 · Rating details · 774 ratings · 72 reviews

Here are the stories of innocent men and women—and the system that put them away under the guise of justice. Now updated with new information, Actual Innocence sheds light on “a system that tolerates lying prosecutors, slumbering defense attorneys and sloppy investigators” (Salt Lake Tribune)—revealing the shocking flaws that can derail the legal process and the ways that ...more

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Paperback, 432 pages

Published December 2nd 2003 by NAL (first published February 5th 2000)

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Oct 04, 2011 Jenee Rager rated it it was amazing

Shelves: non-fiction, best-books-ever, legal

I can honestly say this is one of the only books that has completely changed my life. Before reading I was a fence sitter on the subject of the death penalty, and most often I leaned towards being pro death penalty. While reading I saw so many ways that the court system could and does fail to ever support legalized death in this country again. I can not remember the case name off the top of my head, but the story about the red haired man from Missiouri who was wrongly convicted and sentenced to ...more

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Jan 27, 2019 Sheri rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: sociology-or-psychology, reviewed, crime-law-criminal-justice, nonfiction

Extraordinary book by Barry Scheck detailing the cases of actual persons that were falsely convicted for crimes they did not commit. Cases involving sentences of life and death penalty. Barry Scheck relates the process that he and his team at The Innocence Project use to investigate and exonerate persons wrongfully convicted. He also covers cases where persons were put to death for crimes they did not commit. I highly recommend this book if you have any interest in legal or crime studies. If you ...more

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Mar 29, 2012 Chrisiant rated it really liked it

Shelves: non-fiction, prisons

First things first, if inspiration for righteous indignation is not what you're looking for in reading material, look elsewhere. Second, the book is fifteen years old, so the landscape on this issue has changed a bit since this was written (for one thing, 49 states now have DNA access laws, which was not the case in 1999).

That said, this book does a really fantastic job of telling the story of what it was like as DNA testing became a possibility for proving innocence in courts of law. The author First things first, if inspiration for righteous indignation is not what you're looking for in reading material, look elsewhere. Second, the book is fifteen years old, so the landscape on this issue has changed a bit since this was written (for one thing, 49 states now have DNA access laws, which was not the case in 1999).

That said, this book does a really fantastic job of telling the story of what it was like as DNA testing became a possibility for proving innocence in courts of law. The authors lay out the main places where our criminal justice system was (still is, I imagine) failing to locate and convict guilty parties of crime. The authors discuss the (un)reliability of eyewitness identification and prison snitches, police and prosecutorial misconduct of heinous degree and frequency, issues with ineffective counsel, and the overall attitude of society and legislators of actively burying our heads in the sand and not noticing or doing anything about these problems. They do this through case studies of wrongfully convicted folks who served various sentences, some of them more than a decade, some on death row, before being proven innocent through DNA testing that, in most cases, was unavailable during their initial trials.

The most striking part for me was that as DNA testing of evidence became more prevalent and began proving the innocence of convict after convict, no one seemed to want to talk about how that might suggest broader problems with our systems of investigating and prosecuting crime. Not all crimes involve DNA to be tested. If DNA evidence is showing we were wrong in all these cases where it existed, is it really plausible that we weren't wrong in some of the cases without DNA evidence to test? Where and how did we go wrong? How can we change police/prosecutor/jury procedure so we don't get it wrong as often?
The authors, 2 of whom started the Innocence Project in 1992, have suggestions in each chapter for how reforms can be made to the particular problem that chapter addresses. The reforms are also collected in a reference section at the back of the book. I love when non-fiction authors go beyond identifying and exploring a problem to making suggestions for how to fix it. It seems like that step gets left out too often.

The downside about the reference section is that the info is pretty out-of-date, but the good news is that some of the suggested reforms have been enacted in some states since then. There are also many state-specific innocence projects now, all with websites, and while it appears the need is still overwhelming the resources, there does seem to be more national attention on this issue now than there was fifteen years ago, and some positive legislative change since this book was written.
...more

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Jan 06, 2016 Grace rated it really liked it

Shelves: nonfiction, 2016-new, 2016-all

So, obviously this book is written about a subject matter that is pretty important to me. But the great thing about this book, for me, is really that it lays out so many of the causes of wrongful convictions and it's brutally honest about how it's a whole system failure - sometimes it's more one particular cause, but it's everything from junk science and overstating evidence to eyewitness misidentification to biased/poor police investigations and overzealous prosecutors and defense attorneys sle ...more

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Jul 30, 2010 Ilze rated it really liked it

I agree with the death penalty in theory, in that those who willfully take the life of another do not deserve life for themselves. But ultimately, the death penalty is impractical to apply in real life. There is too much of a chance that an innocent person will be executed. So reluctantly I am against the death penalty, and this book explains why better than I could.

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Nov 05, 2012 Lewis Weinstein rated it it was amazing

Shelves: non-fiction

The cases Barry Scheck cites will make you ill. Innocent people going to jail or execution because prosecutors hid evidence, or created it.

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May 13, 2019 Cheyenne|Tonkin About Books rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, nonfiction, true-crime

As someone who has a passion for true crime and finds the criminal justice system incredibly interesting, I was so excited to read this book. It was compelling, well-written, and served to highlight just how complex our criminal justice system is. I was shocked by some of the injustices talked about in this book and was equally sickened by the way we handled it afterwards. If you're interested in learning more about DNA exonerations and the the science behind how innocent people get thrown in ja ...more

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Jun 24, 2020 Jessica Henry rated it it was amazing

I love this book - it is an oldie but a goodie that provides a framework for understanding how wrongful convictions happen. It is a page turner that's full of compelling stories about innocent people who are wrongly convicted while exploring the system that failed them. ...more

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Dec 06, 2017 Carissa rated it it was amazing

I absolutely love the innocence project which is one reason I really wanted to read this book. I know without a doubt that many people are in prison and on death row who are innocent and convicted based on so many unreliable factors. I wish more had access to DNA evidence and/or other options to have their cases more thoroughly reviewed. The hard-heartedness and lack of caring about taking away years of the lives of innocent people, if not killing them or them dying in prison without ever being I absolutely love the innocence project which is one reason I really wanted to read this book. I know without a doubt that many people are in prison and on death row who are innocent and convicted based on so many unreliable factors. I wish more had access to DNA evidence and/or other options to have their cases more thoroughly reviewed. The hard-heartedness and lack of caring about taking away years of the lives of innocent people, if not killing them or them dying in prison without ever being able to prove their innocence, is horrifying. Just to close a case, add a W to your record, or be a hero of some sort? It’s disgusting that even after these people, many within hours of the death chamber, were PROVEN NOT guilty, not just beyond reasonable doubt, but with NO doubt, that so many of the prosecutors, investigators, cops, witnesses who knew better, and others involved in the conviction had no guilt or felt no remorse. When 67 people, many on death row, are determined to be innocent within the first few years of the innocence project and only a teensy portion of the claims of innocence by criminals have been reviewed, imagine how many are in jail for no obvious reason, completely innocent, but railroaded by the prosecution and unable to afford a quality defense? And then all of their rights are completely taken away so they don’t even have a chance at proving their innocence? Then, the lack of or very low compensation when they’ve spent years of their lives in prison and the difficult challenges they face trying to readjust to society? Some never do.

Of course, mistakes will happen in letting true criminals go and convicting the innocent. I think almost everyone has been accused of something they didn’t do, as well as gotten away with something they did at some point and that’s tough enough to handle even when minor, but this is only a handful of stories of people convicted for ridiculous reasons and with no good evidence. And then, to be proven innocent, not just NOT GUILTY, but not be allowed out of jail because they didn’t prove it within a certain timeframe? The legal process is slow and it takes years and years sometimes to get anyone to even a knowledge them, much less put together an appeal within a few months or years. Once convicted, always guilty, no matter what.

Thanks to DNA and other technology and techniques, many believed to be guilty now are determined not to be before it ever gets very far, but before the 90s, and even later, there were so many convicted without that available. How many are still there? How many have we killed? Is it worse to kill or take away years of someone’s life who is totally innocent, many hard-working,normal American citizens with not even a speeding ticket in their records, or is it worse to let a guilty person go free? Why is it easier for a guilty person to go free because of legal protocols not being followed and cases getting thrown out than it is for an innocent person to prove his or her innocence after conviction because of laws taking away so many rights? In general, is it worse for an innocent person to be convicted, or a guilty person to go free, no matter what the reason? And, if we put even one innocent person to death (which has been proven to have been done, and many avoided just in time only because of new techniques), is that enough to put an end to the death penalty altogether in this country? Or do a few lives here and there not matter because it’s so important to get the ones who really deserve it? You’ll never see a rich man on death row. Why do some get death, while others who commit more blatantly obvious or more horrific murders get life or 50 years? There are so many factors. People assume there is no way the prosecution would be able to get death or send an innocent person to jail if they really were innocent. It’s just not true. The innocence project is proving that, one case at a time. By 1999, the number of freed, innocent people was 67...And they were just barely getting started. One was granted a stay of execution just two hours before execution, and later proven to be innocent. What if the state had moved forward that night? How many more are in that predicament? How many will we never know about because it’s already too late? What if it was you or a loved one?

This book wasn’t surprising because I’ve followed these stories and stats for over 20 years, but it’s still astounding at how little it takes...and how someone just like me could get home from work to find cops at my door and I’d never see freedom again. It’s something everyone needs to consider. So many cases are tried in the media. So many are guilty before proven innocent. Even once they are determined not guilty, many can never get their lives or reparation back. This book includes excellent proposals at the end to help reduce the chances of error and false convictions. Yes, innocent people confess to crimes they didn’t commit. The rate is astonishing. No one thinks they would ever do that, but the torture these people endure and the mental frame of mind they are in after hours of interrogation and the stories they are told about what “could” have happened to coerce a confession is dreadful and they give in under all the stress, pressure, hours without food, water, or sleep and promised that if they sign this form, everything will get better. Who can say they would never confess to something they didn’t do under those circumstances? And some are mentally challenged and used as scapegoats just to close a case. There are so many ways an innocent person can get convicted with virtually no good evidence of guilt. This book lays many of them out. It provides ways which are so practical that could reduce the chances of an innocent person being convicted, and pretty much eliminate it in the cases with no solid evidence.

This book is great for anyone who believes in the innocence project, and should definitely be read by anyone who doesn’t believe our system is broken by convicting innocent people, or only broken by letting guilty people go free. It will, if nothing else, make everyone think about their stand on these issues and whether it is time to re-evaluate how we handle all criminal cases, and especially capital cases and if the knowledge of having executed even one innocent person is enough to abolish the death penalty entirely. It will give doubters that we’ve never sent an innocent person to the death chamber something to seriously think about. The undeniable FACTS are right here. Again- you will never see a rich person on death row.

We can’t have a 100% perfect system either way, but we CAN have a much BETTER system both ways. It will never be “fair”, but it can be MUCH more fair, less biased, more accurate, and there’s a lot of room for change to reduce wrongful convictions AND letting true criminals free. I personally think the “double jeapordy” law can be revised so it’s not abused, but can allow people to be retried if evidence shows up later proving guilt, which has happened. That is one way to reduce the odds of wrongful convictions by taking pressure off the jury when they have serious doubts, but are afraid of releasing a truly guilty person with no chance of them ever paying for that crime. I also believe there are many things that can be changed to reduce the chances of the innocent being convicted, as well as more opportunities to prove their innocence much more quickly if they are wrongfully convicted so they can more easily and quickly resume their lives . With new techniques, the system is certainly antiquated and the justice system should be fully re-evaluated.

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Oct 15, 2019 Papaphilly rated it it was amazing

Shelves: law, sociology, politics, non-fiction, true-crime

Actual Innocence: When Justice Goes Wrong and How to Make it Right is one of the best books I have read in years. This gripping book reads better than most novels and you cannot put it down. On the surface, Actual Innocence: When Justice Goes Wrong and How to Make it Right is about the use of DNA testing to free convicted men from prison and that alone makes it worth the price of admission. Yet, this is so much more than just this small piece. The broader story is how an innocent person is convi Actual Innocence: When Justice Goes Wrong and How to Make it Right is one of the best books I have read in years. This gripping book reads better than most novels and you cannot put it down. On the surface, Actual Innocence: When Justice Goes Wrong and How to Make it Right is about the use of DNA testing to free convicted men from prison and that alone makes it worth the price of admission. Yet, this is so much more than just this small piece. The broader story is how an innocent person is convicted and sent to prison. How the virtually impossible happens more than anyone wants to admit. More importantly, how hard the system works against admitting a mistake, even when actual innocence can be proven.

Make no mistake, this book is a criticism of the larger system, but it is not wide eyed lunatic fringe zealotry. The authors make their case quite well in a calm and rational manner. They point out the faults in the system and note the damage to both the system and individuals. This is basic punditry for a better and fairer turn for the wrongfully convicted.

Actual Innocence: When Justice Goes Wrong and How to Make it Right spends a great deal of time explaining what happened with each case study and how it progressed to the end. What the reader finds out is how much is human frailty. There are certainly a few bad actors and underlying racism, but much of what happens is plain old fashion mistakes and the inability of both individuals and the court system being unable to admit to the mistakes. How once a suspect is determined, how fast everything else gets ignored due to blinders on the police trying to solve the case. How hard it becomes to free the innocent due to fears of politicians being soft on crime and worries about liability issues.

Much of the book criticizes eyewitness account and how much the victim can get wrong to the point of wrongful conviction. A very touching section lets one of the victims talk about her rape and how wrong she was once DNA excluded the convicted and how convinced she was during the suspect lineup.

As hard as the criticisms and failures of justice are catalogued, this work is ultimately hopeful. That the system has problems, but they can be fixed and science can be brought to the fore and some sensible solutions enacted to protect everyone.

Great read. ...more

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Mar 03, 2019 Trey Lathe rated it it was amazing

The authors belong to the "Innocence Project", an organized attempt to determine the innocence or guilt through recently available DNA evidence of those convicted of murder/violent crimes. In over 80 cases the were able to _prove_ the innocence of the wrongly convicted, many on death row.
This book results from that project and outlines in each chapter some of the failures of the justice system in these cases including the unreliability of eyewitnesses, incompentant defense lawyers, poor laws and ...more

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Nov 12, 2018 Katie Bee rated it it was amazing

Shelves: 2018-books-read

A great book. The co-authors talking about themselves in the third person was a little distracting to me at first, but I quickly got used to it. I think the biggest takeaway I had from this book is that most DNA exonerations are over now (they freed innocent people who had been convicted before advanced DNA testing) but there are still so many ways innocent people can be unjustly convicted. Exonerating DNA evidence doesn't exist in every case - for many if not most of the innocent people profile ...more

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Dec 05, 2018 KayLynn Zollinger rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction, book-club, dystopian

Disclaimer: If you want to continue thinking the United States justice system is fair and just...don't read this book.

I felt this book in my soul. It infuriated me. It started a fire. It's not like I don't know that people are wrongly accused, trials are botched, testimonies scewed, evidence facked, etc, it's just not something that I'm not forced to think about very often. And the truth is painful. And ugly. After reading Actual Innocence (which by the way, is apparently not a real reason for ...more

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May 31, 2018 Kenneth Barber rated it it was amazing

This book follows the development of the Innocence Project and it's efforts to free the innocent wrongfully convicted. Not all are on death row, but all have been in prison for crimes they didn't commit. The biggest development that has helped free innocent people has been the the discovery of DNA. It has been particularly effective in rape cases. The book follows many cases where people have been wrongfully convicted only to be proven innocent. The book shows the fallacies in our system that al ...more

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Sep 19, 2018 Jessica Faulkner Chase rated it really liked it · review of another edition

“The bottom line is we’re making all these God-like decisions without God-like skills. But people don’t want to be bothered by that.” Page 222 says it all. So grateful for the Innocence Project and DNA evidence. Now all I can think about is how many people are currently on death row that are innocent. These stats make it hard to have faith in our legal system - mistaken eyewitnesses were a factor in 84% of wrongful convictions; snitches or informants in 21 percent; false confessions in 24%. Defe ...more

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Dec 18, 2019 Sodeddie rated it really liked it

The use of actual cases to define the process of how DNA profiling was developed and utilized especially for exonerations I wrongful conviction cases was very interesting. This book explains the evolution of DNA and ties to four cases which led to exonerations. Worth the time if you follow wrongful conviction cases and how evidence based investigation is applied.

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Nov 30, 2020 Line Thyrring rated it it was amazing

Shelves: innocence-project

Chilling, disturbing, horrifying, terrifying reading. A powerful and compelling book that gives an indsigt in the wronfulg convictions. How fatally Wrong things can go I the American criminal Justice system.

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Apr 29, 2019 Amanda Stoks rated it it was amazing

Shelves: true-crime, non-fiction

Super powerful, super sad, super good.

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May 11, 2010 Dennis Littrell rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: true-crime

How DNA testing is freeing the wrongfully convicted

The worse thing our judicial system can do is to convict an innocent person. It's not merely that an innocent person goes to jail, or even that the real criminal is free to commit more crimes (although such things are horrible), but, more significantly, it is through such actions that our faith in the law, which is the basis of society, is destroyed. Whenever those in the judicial system—prosecutors, police, investigators, judge or jurors—compro How DNA testing is freeing the wrongfully convicted

The worse thing our judicial system can do is to convict an innocent person. It's not merely that an innocent person goes to jail, or even that the real criminal is free to commit more crimes (although such things are horrible), but, more significantly, it is through such actions that our faith in the law, which is the basis of society, is destroyed. Whenever those in the judicial system—prosecutors, police, investigators, judge or jurors—compromise themselves by bending the law or fudging the evidence or their perception of the truth to get a phony conviction (as is vividly described on these pages) then we have moved a step closer to the repressive and terrorist regimes of the likes of Hitler and Stalin, Saddam Hussein and Idi Amin. If the innocent have no more chance of happiness than the guilty, then our faith in the system will erode and society will collapse. Messrs. Scheck, Neufeld, and Dwyer understand this profound truth and that is one of the reasons they fought so hard to overturn wrongful convictions and to report on them in this book.

Some of this is strong stuff. You'll read of crime labs so filthy and disorganized that they are incapable of processing evidence, and of forensic "scientists" so corrupt and incompetent that they present false or invented evidence in court. You'll read of police and prosecutors who ignore the truth in order to convict the innocent and of judges who turn their backs on the rule of law because of prejudice or political ambition or just to satisfy the blood lust of a mob mentality. Some of those wrongfully convicted have spent decades in prison and have had their lives torn apart.

If we believe, as some of the hardened, cynical police officers, prosecutors and judges in this book (and elsewhere) do indeed believe, that it doesn't matter if we compromise the truth a little to get a conviction because the guy is probably guilty of something else anyway—if we believe THAT, we will become that which we despise, and the jungle of bestiality will be upon us.

The question therefore arises, why are there people in the judicial system (the scandal in the Rampart Division of the LAPD comes freshly to mind) who lie and plant phony evidence in order to get convictions? Part of it is the strain of the job and the environment in which law enforcement people exist. They become corrupted by their surroundings. They become cynical and take on the coloring of those around them. They adopt the methods of criminals. They see horrible crimes everyday and in their frustration to convict somebody, they lie and compromise themselves. And then, once they have compromised themselves, they spiral deeper and deeper into lawlessness, feeling all the time that it is "us or them."

What is the solution? Eternal vigilance, of course, and the authors are doing their part in that. But also, I think, we need to amend some of the rules. Jailhouse snitches should never be allowed to testify in court. We must have strong independent oversight of the police, not in the sense that the police will be afraid to do their jobs, but in the sense that nothing they do is secret from society. We must recognize that their job is a tough one, but we must be ready to clean house when it is necessary (and it will be necessary). Those accused of a crime should have legal representation as competent as that in the district attorney's office. In fact I think that all lawyers should have to spend some time both prosecuting and defending the accused, and that money should play no part in who represents whom. High priced lawyers should be required to not only take on pro bono cases (which many do as a matter of principle), but to prosecute some of the time as well. And district attorneys should be required to defend cases as well as prosecuting them. The adversarial system probably cannot be avoided, but if the players are forced to assume from time to time positions on both sides of the aisle, I think some of the inbred corruption can be eliminated.

No system is ever going to be perfect. When a horrendous crime is committed, we want nothing more than to find who did it and punish that person severely. That is human nature. But we must guard against letting our blood lust so cloud our judgement that we end up punishing the poor and the weak and people we don't like.

So hurrah for this book and the light it sheds on how the new forensic tool of DNA testing is helping us separate the guilty from the actually innocent. And yes, Barry and Peter, you are forgiven for helping a certain very sad person avoid the slammer.

--Dennis Littrell, author of “The World Is Not as We Think It Is” ...more

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Feb 11, 2017 John B. rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

p. 246

"In 1999, the Innocence Project reconstructed sixty-two cases in the United States of the sixty-seven exonerations in North America to determine what factors had been prevalent in the wrongful convictions. Mistaken eye-witnesses were a factor in 84 percent of the convictions; snitches or informants in 21 percent; false confessions in 24 percent. Defense lawyers fell down on the job in 27 percent; prosecutorial misconduct played a part in 42 percent, and police misconduct in 50 percent. A t ...more

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Mar 04, 2015 Heidi | Paper Safari Book Blog added it

Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld, once lawyers with the Bronx Legal Aid Society, co-founded The Innocence Project, which seeks post-conviction release through DNA testing. They are among the most prominent civil rights attorneys in the U.S. Jim Dwyer is the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for the New York Daily News and author of several other books.

I have to reveal that I know Jim Dwyer, he is the brother-in-law of one of my good friends, I've read many of his other books and I have rea Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld, once lawyers with the Bronx Legal Aid Society, co-founded The Innocence Project, which seeks post-conviction release through DNA testing. They are among the most prominent civil rights attorneys in the U.S. Jim Dwyer is the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for the New York Daily News and author of several other books.

I have to reveal that I know Jim Dwyer, he is the brother-in-law of one of my good friends, I've read many of his other books and I have really liked them all, so I may be a bit biased in my review of his books.

If you are a fan of the podcast Serial or the TV show Law and Order or if you wonder about fairness of the criminal justice system in the US, this is a must read. While the information contained in this book may not help free Adnan Syed, it shows how many people are convicted with faulty evidence and unreliable eyewitness testimony.

Each chapter takes on a different broken part of the justice system, from eye witnesses, to jailhouse, snitches, faulty lab evidence, police misconduct, confessions, lazy attorneys etc... Its terrifying to think of how many people are wrongfully convicted of crimes and how long it takes to get them cleared in this country. And the even scarier part is that there aren't systems in place to punish those who withhold evidence, force confessions, or give false testimony...most of those people aren't charged, convicted or punished in any way. There are very few safeguards.

Once convicted of a crime its almost impossible to get back out. Some systems refuse to allow DNA testing after a conviction leaving innocent people in prison and even more startling are the times when DNA proves the person is innocent and the state won't allow them to be freed saying they must have been guilty in some way. The facts according to the authors are that there are thousands more that could be freed with DNA testing. Although science is not the stop gap for flaws in any criminal justice system, the authors very convincingly argue that it would be a beneficial start.

The stories in this book are accessible and easy to follow but not preachy. If you have any interest in the law or justice this is a must read. ...more

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Sep 09, 2015 Jeffrey Sheppard rated it really liked it

Shelves: favorites

QUESTION:
How many are in prison for a crime they didn't commit? I'll counter that with: How many are free after committing a crime and being found not guilty?

REVIEW:
This book is a great read for true crime fans. It was published in 2000, ironically the same year Illinois put a moratorium on the death penalty. I had never read anything, especially in true crime, about innocent people being incarcerated other than Old Red in the Shawshank Redemption saying we are all innocent here.

These cases high ...more

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Jan 08, 2010 Jeff Doucette rated it liked it

Discusses: emergence of DNA science; mistaken identification by eye witnesses and victims; false confessions resulting from psychological interrogation; Accused criminals falsely snitching on other accused criminals in an effort to reduce their sentences for other crimes; expert scientist-witnesses presenting junk science or outright lying about their lab work; government misconduct; and lack of access to adequate legal counsel for people of low-income.

The authors, two of whom founded the pro-bo ...more

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Oct 16, 2013 Bob rated it really liked it

I've known about Scheck and Neufeld's Innocence Project for many years, and have taught about the unreliability of eyewitness identifications in my Constitution class, but I'd never gotten around to reading the full story until now, prompted by a reference to it in Being Wrong. Although the state of both DNA evidence and recognition of eyewitness fallability - including particularly cross-racial identifications - is much advanced in the ensuing decade, the book is a powerful condemnation of the ...more

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Jun 13, 2014 Sherri rated it really liked it

This was an excellent book that I should be required reading for all high school students, (the only way to make sure everyone reads it). One of my biggest pet peeves is the way that our criminal justice system runs, and the idea that most people just accept that it is running fine. I found myself getting angry while reading the examples that the authors supplied; I kept thinking how unfair it is and how ridiculous that having money gives so many people advantages, even with the law. I'm hopeful ...more

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Oct 28, 2010 Adam rated it really liked it

Shelves: criminal-justice, law, non-fiction

A great look into the founding of and reasons behind the Innocence Project, spurred by the case of Marion Coakley who, wrongfully imprisoned, was freed with the help of former public defenders Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld.

Through the chapters of this book, the authors help to explain not only the horror of wrongful convictions but just how these atrocities come to pass in our supposedly 'fair' justice system.

Cases are presented and describe to explain and highlight phenomenon from junk science ...more

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Feb 01, 2011 Caitlin rated it really liked it

I'm not usually much for non-fiction, but I devoured this book. I have a long tradition of absent-mindedly buying recommended but not required books for classes, and this was just such a book for a course I have in Wrongful Convictions.

This is a non-lawyer's book, truly, and it's written in a sort of clunky third-person. It's authors are prominent lawyers who are part of the Innocence Project, which does exactly what you think it does. The book is a pastiche of stories about the dozens (hundreds ...more

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Nov 04, 2016 Marcella Freeman rated it liked it

Most cases presented herein were examples of misconduct on the plaintiff's side; evidence was fabricated, lost, denied, hid, etc. or a professional simply went with their "gut" feeling despite evidence to the contrary. Sometimes the evidence just didn't exist, and the defense couldn't make the case for reasonable doubt. Sometimes the eyewitness testimony, which is not reliable but is VERY convincing (inflammatory?) to a jury, was simply inaccurate.
However, this was a really fascinating look at e ...more

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Jul 19, 2007 Clare rated it liked it

The information presented in this book is incredibe. Scheck et al run through the basics of about a dozen cases of wrongful imprisonment where innocent men wound up in prison, usually on death row, and were later exonerated by DNA evidence through the work of the Innocence Project - some spending more than a decade behind bars for crimes demonstably committed by others. Unfortunately, the writing is really bad. Timelines are sloppy, metaphors are unintentionally hilarious, and much of the book r ...more

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Jul 01, 2012 Paul Bond rated it liked it

Shelves: reviewed

Arguments with respect to capital punishment often reach an impasse as follows. The proponent of keeping death as a tool of punishment will admit the theoretical risk of mistakes, but propose some limiting principal. "Well, but when we have [eyewitness testimony/DNA/a signed confession]" or some other form of highly regarded evidence, "then surely we can be certain enough impose the sentence." ACTUAL JUSTICE rebuts such certainties root and branch, documenting how human limits, biases, errors, a ...more

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