The Innocence Commission, a new book by Jon B. Gould, describes how the advent of DNA test­ing and oth­er foren­sic advances in the crim­i­nal jus­tice sys­tem have led to seri­ous efforts to under­stand how so many wrong­ful con­vic­tions have hap­pened. In par­tic­u­lar, The Innocence Commission details the first years of the Innocence Commission for Virginia (ICVA), which was the first in the coun­try to con­duct sys­temic research into all wrong­ful con­vic­tions in the state. Gould, the Chair of ICVA, exam­ines twelve cas­es of wrong­ful con­vic­tion in Virginia, includ­ing one death penal­ty case, point­ing out the instances where the wrong­ful con­vic­tion could have been avoid­ed and offer­ing sug­ges­tions on how to pre­vent such mis­takes in the future. Ultimately, Gould con­cludes, inno­cence com­mis­sions are nec­es­sary in every state to ascer­tain where weak­ness­es in the sys­tem exist and to offer feasible solutions.

The Library Journal writes that The Innocence Commission is ​“A thought­ful and dis­turb­ing account of his found­ing in 2003 of the Innocence Commission for Virginia (ICVA) to inves­ti­gate wrong­ful con­vic­tions.… Written for the gen­er­al pub­lic, Gould’s book has impor­tant lessons for attor­neys and pol­i­cy­mak­ers as well.”

(The Innocence Commission: Preventing Wrongful Convictions and Restoring the Criminal Justice System, by Jon B. Gould, NYU Press, 2008). See Innocence and Books. ‑Posted March 4, 2008.

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