Journal Article

Innocent but incarcerated: 10,000 lost years

Abstract: The United States criminal justice system provides for two stages of review for people accused of a crime?the trial stage, where facts are presented and evaluated by a judge or jury, and the appellate stage, where the way the law was applied to those facts may be questioned. The facts themselves are typically not reexamined. ; After the appellate stage, there is no guaranteed right to counsel. But what happens when the system gets it wrong and facts are missed or misinterpreted? When someone is convicted of a crime he or she did not commit, the system does not guarantee any recourse. If the innocent do not have private resources to hire lawyers or investigators, they may spend years, decades, and even life in prison, while the guilty person remains free to commit more crimes.

Keywords: Criminal Justice, Administration of;

Bibliographic Information

Provider: Federal Reserve Bank of Boston

Part of Series: Communities and Banking

Publication Date: 2013

Issue: Winter

Pages: 15-16