Running head: WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS IN AMERICA 1
The Color of Culpability: Wrongful Convictions in America
Carlisha Bivins
Old Dominion University
WRONGFUL CONVICTIONS IN AMERICA 2
Abstract
Wrongful convictions are a manifestation of mishandling investigations and embedded
discriminatory attitudes towards minorities in America and negatively impact the American
criminal justice system.
Keywords: wrongful convictions, minorities, exonerations
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The Color of Culpability: Wrongful Convictions in America
Culpability, even without cause, is the ultimate consequence of being brown in America.
As a result, thousands of African Americans and Hispanics have suffered from wrongful
convictions since the creation of the American criminal justice system. Prior to forensic testing,
there was little evidence required to find minority defendants guilty; a mere allegation from (or
on the behalf of) a White victim guaranteed a harsh sentence. Despite our advances in
investigation practices, harsh consequences still remain - whether it be decades, life
imprisonment, or death.
By reviewing recent literature regarding this issue, I intend to challenge the notion that
convicted persons are inherently guilty and identify the factors which have propagated wrongful
convictions into the 21st century. I believe civilians armed with such information will be more
inclined to support reforms and safeguards proposed by exonerative organizations such as the
Innocent Project to reduce the incidence of wrongful convictions.
Literature Review
Unsurprisingly, there is not an abundance of research about wrongful convictions in
America. Much of the statistical data is derived from exonerating organizations including the
Innocence Project. According to their website, there are several factors that contribute to high
incidents of misjustice including but not limited to “incentivized informants, inadequate defense,
misapplication of forensic science, government misconduct, false confessions or admissions,
[and] eyewitness misidentification” (Innocence Project, 2007). Consequently, it is now estimated
that “at least 20,000 convicted innocents currently occupy U.S. prisons” (Olney & Bonn, 2015).
Let us examine the components of this issue.
Legal & Non-Legal Factors
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Wrongful convictions are the culmination of errors legal and non-legal factors. The
leading cause is described as interracial eye-witness misidentification. According to Knuycky,
Kleider, and Cavrak (2014) this is due to a typicality effect where traumatized victims assign
guilt to individuals with stereotypical Black features (e.g. big nose, big lips, etc.). Less open than
in prior decades, racial discrimination is also believed to play a critical role particularly in cases
of sexual assault involving a Black man and White woman (Johnson, Griffith, Barnaby, 2013).
This demonstrates the issue of how race continues to negatively impact how justice is served and
applied to minorities as initially mentioned.
Gender Differences
Since men makeup the greatest proportion of the imprisoned population, it is reasonable
that most wrongfully convicted persons are males. Racial analysis shows that Black men are
almost twice as likely to be wrongly convicted of murder and sexual assault compared to White
men (Olney & Bonn, 2015). Additionally, Black men receive longer sentences than their White
counterparts regardless of the convicted crime.
There is some debate about how many cases of wrongful convictions of women in
America are observed. Two of my readings suggest that the number is 42 (Ruesnick & Free,
2007; Free & Reusnick, 2015). Typically, women are charged with more property crimes and
drug offenses than violent crimes which means there is often less DNA evidence available to
exonerate them (Smith & Hattery, 2015). Examining the breakdown of racial trends in women
wrongly convicted, it appears, however, that murder/manslaughter is the leading offense of Black
women (~46%) as well as White women (~31%) but with clear disproportions (Ruesnick & Free,
2007). Interestingly enough, “White women … received substantially longer sentences than the
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Black women in [the] study” conducted by Free and Ruesnick (2015) which is a stark
juxtaposition of the trend seen in Black men and White men.
The Aftermath: Exoneration
Due to the current limited number of exoneration cases, there is not an abundance of data
regarding the condition of individuals following release; however, existing research does suggest
that their ongoing lives do not significantly differ from post-release inmates with standing
convictions. They are subject to employment discrimination, battle mental health issues, and
tasked with social re-integration in a fast-paced society often with minimal means of supporting
in several states. To offset these challenges, “30 states, the federal government, and the District
of Columbia have enacted legislation to compensate the wrongfully convicted” with varying
financial amounts (Karaffa, Page, Koch, 2017). However, racial disparities permeate within
criminal justice reparations when considering “several factors could disqualify exonerees from
receiving compensation [such as …] if they were convicted of a felony subsequent of being
exonerated [and] if they falsely confessed or pleaded guilty to the crime for which they were
exonerated” which applies to minority exonerees than their White counterparts (Karaffa, Page,
Koch, 2017). Even so, exoneration is comparatively the most positive outcome of being wrongly
convicted compared to fulfilling extensive sentences, dying naturally during one, or being
inhumanely executed (Johnson, Griffith, Barnaby, 2013)..
Conclusion
Despite the growing number of documented wrongful convictions, there is still
overwhelming ignorance from key players in the criminal justice system. In fact, “researchers
found that 90.4% of police officers, 72.7% of prosecutors, and 69.9% of criminal attorneys did
not believe that wrongful convictions occur frequently enough to justify criminal justice reform”
(Karaffa, Page, Koch, 2017). Thereby, effective positive criminal justice reforms will not come
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to pass without widespread support and pressure from the general public. My opinion is that the
order of impact is as follows:
1. federal support of exoneration organizations (e.g. the Innocence Project) to increase
opportunities for case reviews
2. availability of free post-release community resources (e.g. work, education, therapy
programs) to help exonerees cope with their circumstances
3. standardized compensation legislation and the removal of disqualifications to reduce
racial disparities
4. recording victim statements when feasible and all suspect interrogations to reduce
faulty evidence
Although further research is necessary to gain a better perspective of wrongful convictions,
the literature examined in this writing demonstrates a reasonable scope of the problem. As a
result of this assignment and completing this course in general, I definitely intend on
contributing to these changes to improve equity within the criminal justice system and promote
better investigations on behalf of public safety.
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References
Free, M. & Ruesink, M. (2015). Flawed justice: a study of wrongly convicted african american
women. Journal of Ethnicity in Criminal Justice, 1-15.
Innocence Project. (2017). The Causes. Retrieved from:
https://www.innocenceproject.org/#causes.
Johnson, M., Griffith, S., & Barnaby, C. (2013). African americans wrongly convicted of sexual
assault against whites: eyewitness error and other case features. Journal of Ethnicity in
Criminal Justice, 11(4), 277-294.
Karaffa, K., Page, J., & Koch, J. (2017). Compensating the innocent: perceptions of exonerees’
deservingness to receive financial compensation for wrongful convictions. Criminal
Justice Policy Review, 28(7), 710-732.
Knuycky, L., Kleider, H., & Cavrak, S. (2014). Line-up misidentifications: when being
'prototypically black' is perceived as criminal. Applied Cognitive Psychology,28(1), 39.
Olney, M., & Bonn, S. (2015). An Exploratory study of the legal and non-legal factors associated
with exoneration for wrongful conviction. Criminal Justice Policy Review, 26(4), 400-
420.
Robinson, M. (2016). Race, ethnicity, crime, and justice. Durham, NC: Carolina Academic
Press.
Ruesink, M. & Free, M. (2007). Wrongful convictions among women. Women & Criminal
Justice, 16(4), 1-23.
Smith, E. & Hattery, A. (2011). Race, wrongful conviction & exoneration. Journal of African
American Studies, 15(1), 74-94.
