Refusing Justice

In 2014 according to a news report, 125 people were exonerated after being falsely convicted of crimes. The year before that, the record was 91. Exoneration's are sky rocketing, and courts all over the nation are refusing to acknowledge the mistakes.

Our justice department is constantly evolving. As new technology and methods are introduced we expect our system to become closer to flawless. However, it is not, and some of the main factors come down to the court and its officials. The Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FBI have admitted that a lot of convictions based on forensic evidence is faulty; for instance hair analysis. Unlike the famous CSI TV series, scientific studies are more complex than matching hair samples into a speedy fast machine. Or another mistakenly assumption that fire arms can be exactly compared to a unique bullet mark. Forensic evidence is advancing, but it gives no right to cheat out cases. And it certainly shouldn't allow the courts and its officials to ignore past and present questionable cases.

The DOJ not only refuses to take responsibility for convicting the innocent, but make it extremely hard for them to prove their innocence. For instance, in Alabama, a defendant has to be able to prove there is no evidence connecting he/she to the crime. Even if the suspect is innocent, but evidence proves some connection, they have no opportunity to even suggest their case to be re-looked at. So instead of having hope in the justice system, many wrongfully accused are depending on outside organizations such as the Innocence Project to gain their case an attention.

With newly exoneration's such as former death row inmate, Beniah Dandridge, we are looking for a call to fix the DOJ before its too late. Not only evaluating forensic evidence, but also overlooking our courts decisions and processes for making sure we put the right criminals in jail. After all, it is our nations job to protect the people and serve justice.