A Brief Reply to Professor Cassell

Abstract

My reply to Paul G. Cassell, Tradeoffs Between Wrongful Convictions and Wrongful Acquittals: Analyzing the Risks and Avoiding the Risks, which is in part a response to my article. The Anti-Blackstonians asserts (1) that all legal scholarship reflects the ideological predilections of authors and thus that our exchange should be evaluated in light of Prof. Cassell’s conservative and my liberal world views; (2) that many of Prof. Cassell’s assertions about correcting wrongful convictions are exaggerated, without scientific foundation, or wrong; (3) that Cassell’s support for Dr. Laudan’s ideas are misguided and if implemented would exacerbate the miseries of mass incarceration, and (4) a narrow focus on wrongful convictions should not hide the point that such injustices emanate from a deeply flawed criminal justice system.

Keywords: wrongful conviction, ideology