A new book written by Jim and Nancy Petro offers a comprehensive analysis of how miscarriages of justice result in wrongful convictions. Jim Petro, a former Republican Attorney General of Ohio, has observed the justice system from all sides and was appalled by the frequent mistakes in the criminal justice system. As attorney general, he advocated along with the Innocence Project to help free a man wrongfully convicted of murder and rape. In “False Justice,” the Petros expose a series of myths and misconceptions about the American justice system, such as, Only the guilty confess; and Wrongful conviction is the result of innocent human error. These misconceptions, they argued, not only prevent juries from carefully weighing evidence but also prevent local judges and prosecution teams from examining cases in an unbiased fashion. “False Justice” will be released in October.
With respect to the death penalty, Mr. Petro considers himself a cautious supporter, but writes: “When you are taking a life on behalf of the state, there is no room for error, and we can never become callous to the enormity of this responsibility.”
(Jim and Nancy Petro, “False Justice: Eight Myths that Convict the Innocent,” Kaplan Publishing, forthcoming October 2010). See more Books on the death penalty and New Voices.
