The Institutions of Innocence Review: A Comparative Sociological Perspective

25 Pages Posted: 12 Nov 2019

See all articles by Jessica Roth

Jessica Roth

Yeshiva University - Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law

Date Written: 2018

Abstract

The last three decades have seen the rise of an international innocence movement that has forced participants in diverse criminal justice systems to confront their systems’ fallibility, previously thought more theoretical than real. The public acknowledgment of that fallibility has led to the creation of new institutional mechanisms to re-examine old convictions. This short essay prepared for a symposium issue of the Rutgers University Law Review on the theory of criminal law reform compares the error correction institutions created in the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States, three English-speaking countries with common law roots and an adversarial structure, through the lens of sociological theory. It finds that, consistent with what that literature suggests, the institutions created in each country reflect the circumstances in which “innocence consciousness” arose therein and the pre-existing institutional arrangements and cultural frames. This analysis offers valuable insights for reformers around the world who are considering how to address wrongful convictions.

Keywords: Innocence Commission, Innocence Consciousness, Innocence Revolution, Innocence Movement, Wrongful Convictions, Exonerations, Criminal Case Review Commission, Criminal Conviction Review Group, Conviction Integrity Unit, Conviction Review Unit, Institutional Isomorphism, Institutional Change

Suggested Citation

Roth, Jessica, The Institutions of Innocence Review: A Comparative Sociological Perspective (2018). Rutgers Law Review, Vol. 70, 2018, Cardozo Legal Studies Research Paper No. 591, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3485222

Jessica Roth (Contact Author)

Yeshiva University - Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law ( email )

55 Fifth Ave.
New York, NY 10003
United States
212-790-0489 (Phone)

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