In June 2012, the National Registry of Exonerations, a joint project of the University of Michigan Law School and Northwestern University Pritzker School of Law, initially reported 873 individual exonerations in the U.S. from January 1989 through February 2012; the report called this number "tiny" in a country with 2.3million people in prisons and jails, but asserted that there are far more false convictions than exonerations. [59] By 2015, the number of individual exonerations was reported as 1,733, with 2015 having the highest annual number of exonerations since 1989. [60] By 2019, the number had risen to 1,934 individuals. [61] 20 individuals have been exonerated while on death row due to DNA evidence. [61] There are unfavorable psychological effects to those who were wrongfully sanctioned, even in the absence of any public knowledge. In an experiment, participants significantly reduced their pro-social behavior after being wrongfully sanctioned. As a consequence there were negative effects for the entire group. [42] The extent of wrongful sanctions varies between societies. [43] Eyewitness identifications are notoriously unreliable, contributing to 70% of wrongful convictions. [16] Starting in the 1970s, psychologists studying memory formation and retention found that the way police lineups are conducted can alter an eyewitness's memory of the suspect and this often leads to misidentification. [17] Witnesses also have considerable difficulty making accurate identifications with suspects from different ethnic groups such that "the rate of mistaken identification is significantly higher than most people tend to believe". [18] Elizabeth Loftus, a leading researcher in the field, says memory is so unreliable "the end result can be a highly confident witness testifying in a persuasive manner at trial about a detail that is completely false". [19] Forensic mistakes [ edit ] Contamination [ edit ] Gloria Morrison, a co-founder of the campaign, told the rally: “JENGbA’s campaign is based on love – we love our families. If [our loved ones] had done something wrong, we would still love them, but we wouldn’t be on the streets fighting that they had been wrongfully convicted.” This book could easily have fallen into a hole of hating the individuals involved in keeping the discriminatory power structures going, but I think it does a good job at staying grounded and emphasising that whilst wider change is needed, this isn’t about specific individuals. Helena reminds us that justice for women should not be at the expense of justice for men.

Having read Eve Was Framed last year, I wasn’t sure whether I would find this book a simple repetition of the arguments presented. Whilst indeed there was a fair bit of crossover between the two books, this one still felt fresh and justified a book in its own right. Helena Kennedy forensically examines the pressing new evidence that women are still being discriminated against throughout the legal system, from the High Court (where only 21% of judges are women) to female prisons (where 84% of inmates are held for non-violent offences despite the refrain that prison should only be used for violent or serious crime). In between are the so-called ‘lifestyle’ choices of the Rotherham girls; the failings of the current rules on excluding victims’ sexual history from rape trials; battered wives being asked why they don’t ‘just leave’ their partners; the way statistics hide the double discrimination experienced by BAME and disabled women; the failure to prosecute cases of female genital mutilation… the list goes on. The law holds up a mirror to society and it is failing women. Thankfully, a High Court ruling in December 2020 stopped this legal loophole from affecting anyone else in Amy’s position – but the dire situation beforehand shows how access to legal aid can be pivotal during deeply personal and traumatic life events.

Professor Judith Shklar has written that Western philosophers tend to spend much more time discussing the concept of 'justice' rather than 'injustice'. On the other hand, she states both historical writing and fiction use instances of injustice as subject matter far more often than justice. [5] Law student and GMLC’s campaign volunteer lead, Hoejong Jeong, considers the barriers that stand in the way of ordinary people getting access to justice, looking at three recent case studies in the news. As the cases show, without access to legal aid or proper legal advice, domestic abuse survivors and detained migrants struggle to protect themselves and their rights.

The Bill will also enshrine a Police Covenant in law, strengthening the support received by serving and retired officers, staff and their families. In addition, maximum penalties will be doubled from 12 months to 2 years for those who assault police or other emergency workers, such as prison officers, fire personnel or frontline health workers – helping to protect those who put their lives on the line to keep communities safe. Wrongful convictions appear at first to be "rightful" arrests and subsequent convictions, and also include a public statement about a particular crime having occurred, as well as a particular individual or individuals having committed that crime. If the conviction turns out to be a miscarriage of justice, then one or both of these statements is ultimately deemed to be false. [37] In cases where a large-scale audience is unknowingly witness to a miscarriage of justice, the news-consuming public may develop false beliefs about the nature of crime itself. It may also cause the public to falsely believe that certain types of crime exist, or that certain types of people tend to commit these crimes, or that certain crimes are more commonly prevalent than they actually are. Thus, wrongful convictions can ultimately mold a society's popular beliefs about crime. Because our understanding of crime is socially constructed, it has been shaped by many factors other than its actual occurrence. [38]In 2002, the Northern Ireland Court of Appeal made an exception to who could avail of the right to a fair trial in R v Walsh: "... if a defendant has been denied a fair trial it will almost be inevitable that the conviction will be regarded unsafe, the present case in our view constitutes an exception to the general rule. ... the conviction is to be regarded as safe, even if a breach of Article 6(1) were held to have occurred in the present case." [58] (See Christy Walsh (Case).)

But we must look to reduce re-offending through more effective community sentences, for lower level offenders where they are appropriate. Giannelli, Paul C. (2007–2008). "Wrongful Convictions and Forensic Science: The Need to Regulate Crime Labs". North Carolina Law Review. 86: 163. Lammy said that when Keir Starmer appointed him to the shadow post, “the first thing I said to my staff: ‘If I get in that job and I’m justice secretary, this is going to end.’”I found the most moving and infuriating chapters to be the ones on domestic abuse, where women whose self-esteem has been shattered and who are terrified of the next beating are treated more harshly than men who kill their wives, because the women cannot be shown to have “snapped”. Sensational. As a lawyer it is an insightful and necessary read but as a woman this book puts real evidence behind the injustices we as women know so well to be true. Bowcott, Owen (October 11, 2018). "Failure to disclose vital evidence in criminal cases growing, says watchdog". The Guardian . Retrieved October 11, 2018. It’s clear from the outset that Helena Kennedy has done her research, that she knows the law and that she also has multitudes of practical experience which serves to inform the statements made in this book. She examines the way women are treated within the law from various angles, including as victims and as perpetrators. I enjoyed that in both this and Eve was Framed, Helena does not ignore intersectionality, but rather dedicates chapters specifically to the injustices faced by individuals of colour and gives nod to the way a disability or someone’s sexuality can have an effect on the response they receive within the justice system. In the Name of the Father (1993), about the conviction of Gerry Conlon of the Guildford pub bombings