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Save the Date: October 7, 2010
The Benefit for Innocence

Featuring Author and CNN Analyst
JEFFREY TOOBIN

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The Issues

While in many ways exemplary, Minnesota criminal procedure suffers from correctable flaws. Biological evidence is among the most reliable evidence, yet it is frequently not preserved. We advocate changes to preserve the biological evidence used to identify perpetrators. We are working with many groups, including prosecutors and police, to make this happen. The result will be better access to more evidence.

While evidence preservation is our current policy focus, there are a number of ways in which the criminal justice system can fine tuned. They include:

Line-ups which are sequential, double-blind and otherwise arranged to avoid bias; improved instructions to lineup witnesses; statements from witnesses which indicate their confidence in their identification; adequate funding for public defenders; training on innocence and forensics issues for defense attorneys and prosecutors; oversight of any suspicious lab or prosecutorial behavior; fuller disclosure of snitch testimony so juries can better appraise its veracity; and limits on the information about the case provided to snitches

Some of these require changes in laws; but others are best practices which can be adopted by criminal justice professionals, raised by defense attorneys, and considered by juries. For more information about these, click below:

In many jurisdictions, false confessions are a problem, although in Minnesota this is mitigated by the required audio and videotaping of such confessions.

Many states are also implementing Criminal Justice Reform Commissions (Innocence Commissions) in light of the large number of exonerations. The CJRCs serve a number of purposes including:
  • Providing safeguards and promoting improvements in the way the criminal justice system works
  • Reviewal of states’ criminal justice systems, drawing attention to the failures which led to wrongful convictions or death sentences
  • Making recommendations and proposals to further ensure the application and administration of a just, fair, and accurate criminal justice system
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