SOC228 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Stereotype, Mental Disorder, Actual Innocence
16 Oct 2015
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Context: reluctance to acknowledge as a problem in early 20th century, 1912 american prison congress review. Attempt to elicit feedback on wc from prison wardens. Growth of scholarly research: 1939s studies emerge to test prevailing belief that it was problem, edwin orchard in 1932 first to publish study, 65 cases of wc in us, concluding factors. Mistaken eye witness; improperly obtained confession; unreliable expert evidence; witness perjury; inadequate defense; public pressure to solve high profile case. Subsequent projects: 1957 (barbara frank and father, jerome) Salience of mistaken eyewitness testimony and jailhouse informants: radin (1964) Gaining momentum: small studies and no impact, 1980s watershed study. 350 cases; capital cases (rape/homicide) over 85 year period. 309 some recognition of innocence - pardon granted; some potential for doubt. New insight - forensic evidence in 16 cases. Only looking at a small selection of crimes. Dna & innocence movement: 1990s see emergence of dna exonerations, significant for two reasons:
