Wrongful Conviction

Catalog description

The National Registry of Exonerations has documented over 3,000 cases in which an innocent individual was convicted, and later exonerated, of a crime that they did not commit. This course offers an introduction to research on wrongful conviction from the fields of criminology, psychology, and law. Students will learn about the factors that contribute to wrongful conviction, the consequences of wrongful conviction for individual exonerees and society as a whole, and the changes that can be made to policy and procedure to prevent the conviction of innocent persons.