Founder of the Constitution Project: Curb Wrongful Convictions For The Sake Of The Economy
An article in The Huffington Post authored by Ginny Sloan (President and Founder of the Constitution Project) and Jon Gould (Assoc. Professor and Director, Center for Justice, Law & Society at George Mason University) discussed the economic need for reform in the area of wrongful convictions. The article calls for all states to invest now in criminal justice reforms in order to avoid "enormous human and financial costs later." According to the article:
Wrongful convictions are tragic for all involved, and they are expensive. Taxpayers pay for police investigations and criminal prosecutions that ensnare the wrong person. They pay the costs of incarcerating that person, and they may face substantial damages in wrongful conviction civil suits. All the while, the actual perpetrator is still on the street, able to prey on others.
But the reforms needed to prevent wrongful convictions may not be expensive. These reforms may not only prevent wrongful convictions and the terrible costs to all involved, but they may also prevent the taxpayers from incurring needless costs.
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The authors discuss certain changes that could be made to prevent wrongful convictions, which in effect, would lower the economic impact. The authors assert that police need to make several reforms including increasing the accuracy of suspect identification by changing line-up procedures, videotaping interrogations. The authors also suggest that "police officers should be trained to consider a wide net of potential suspects before honing in on the most likely perpet
rator." They also call for prosecutor's to open up case files to defense attorneys and allowing judges to hear post-conviction claims of innocence. Finally, the authors discuss the ever-present public defender issue.
The suggestions made by the authors are on point, even though they underestimate the breadth of the problem. One major economic effect of wrongful convictions is that most states allow double recovery in compensation. Most of the states that do provide means of compensation for time spent wrongfully incarcerated still allow the released person to sue the municipality and individual police officers. The Innocence Project maintains a list of the states that provide such compensation. See for yourself.
Tort reform is needed in this area. People feel for the wrongfully incarcerated and want to blame someone. Almost always its the police. The focus needs to be on solving the problems - not a constant attack on the police. Every lawsuit merely fuels the next, which adds to the percise economic problems Ginny Sloan addresses.
