Wrongful Convictions as Rightful Takings: Protecting 'Liberty-Property'

Posted: 25 Mar 2010 Last revised: 4 Mar 2013

See all articles by John Martinez

John Martinez

University of Utah - S.J. Quinney College of Law

Date Written: December 2, 2007

Abstract

We have an imperfect system of criminal justice in which we try our best to be right most of the time, but in which people inevitably will be wrongfully convicted. The conventional approach of treating wrongful convictions as "failures" of the criminal justice system leaves wrongfully convicted people free but uncompensated for the harm they have suffered: they are set free to be poor. This article proposes that wrongful convictions a reconstructed Just Compensation jurisprudence in "relational" terms compels the provision of compensation for those wrongfully convicted.

Keywords: Wrongful Convictions, Takings, Just Compensation

JEL Classification: K42, K19, K14, K11, J79, J49, J41, J38, J22, J17, I32, I31

Suggested Citation

Martinez, John, Wrongful Convictions as Rightful Takings: Protecting 'Liberty-Property' (December 2, 2007). Hastings Law Journal, Vol. 59, No. 515, 2008, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1569879

John Martinez (Contact Author)

University of Utah - S.J. Quinney College of Law ( email )

383 S. University Street
Salt Lake City, UT 84112-0730
United States

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