Race, sex, exoneration, & compensation: how do they relate? what is done? and what needs to be done?
Project Director
Crittenden, Courtney A.
Department Examiner
McGuffee, Karen
Publisher
University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Place of Publication
Chattanooga (Tenn.)
Abstract
Previous literature has noted multiple causes of wrongful conviction including mistaken eyewitness identification, false confessions, ineffective assistance of counsel, crime lab error, and prosecutorial misconduct. Over time, more wrongful convictions caused by these factors are overturned through the help of organizations such as the Innocence Project. With these increasing exonerations comes the increased needs of exonerated people. The previous literature has exemplified that exonerees have unique needs (Simms, 2016), but these needs are often not met by the compensation that is available (Chunias & Aufgang, 2008; Mandery et. al, 2013). This occurrence is problematic given that exonerees had to lose time (sometimes years or decades) behind bars and endure the pains of imprisonment all while knowing they were innocent and having to cope with that dichotomy. Prior research also recognizes the stigma that exonerees face: however, there are gaps in the research when determining the relationship between race and wrongful conviction (Smith & Hattery, 2011) as well as sex and wrongful conviction. The current study seeks to help fill those gaps and answer other questions regarding exonerations by assessing characteristics of exonerees including the following: race, sex, offense type, time spent incarcerated, whether or not DNA evidence helped to accomplish exoneration, and the location of the exoneree’s incarceration.
Degree
B. S.; An honors thesis submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Bachelor of Science.
Date
5-2021
Subject
Compensation for judicial error; Criminal justice, Administration of; Judicial error
Discipline
Criminology and Criminal Justice
Document Type
Theses
Extent
42 leaves
DCMI Type
Text
Language
English
Rights
http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
License
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Recommended Citation
Still, Sarah Emily, "Race, sex, exoneration, & compensation: how do they relate? what is done? and what needs to be done?" (2021). Honors Theses.
https://scholar.utc.edu/honors-theses/319
Department
Dept. of Criminal Justice and Legal Assistant Studies