Causes Of Wrongful Convictions In Australia

Injustice in the U.S. Court System Everyone would like to think that each individual that goes into court is considered fair and equal under the law. Growing up you’re taught that the decisions made in the U.S. courts are determined by the wisdom of the Constitution, and guided by equal and fair minded judges and juries of our peers (Swanson, Anna). Unfortunately, this is often not true. Movie depictions, like A Time to Kill (Schumacher), demonstrate how unjust the American court system actually is.

Throughout the history of the United States there have been numerous court cases that have drawn an incredible amount of public attention. Whether this was because the person involved was a known figure, or the offense that's being charged upon the defendant and/or the conviction that the case resulted in. It seems as if the United States just has an abundant of cases to choose from when choosing to analyze a case and that can possibly be based on the justice system used in the states to proceed a crime in court. One of those controversial cases in the history of the United States was the Lizzy Borden case. This case showed how to escape from the hands of the justice system.

To be committed of a crime the judge or jurors must have enough evidence that there is no other possible explanation, this is referred to as beyond a reasonable doubt. If this is held true, how can someone still be wrongfully convicted? According to Sphohn, Cassia (2014) in 2008 more than 1.6 million United States citizens was imprisoned (p. 5.35). If only .5% of those individuals were innocent that would mean that 8,000 people are wrongfully convicted. That also means there are 8,000 people who are guilty of those crimes free among society.

The original rationale of the rule of the exclusion of the wrongfulness probation has a clear constitutional scope, involves an enhanced warranty for individual rights and seeks to prevent access to process all those evidence to be obtained by the police authorities violated constitutional rights of the people. (Oaks, D. (1970)) One way it has been used in a case was during Boyd V. United States where several cases of plate glass were confiscated from the defendants by federal customs agents due to suspicion that certain documents had been falsified for the purposes of avoiding customs fees or duties. During the course of the proceedings, the defendants were ordered by the judge to produce documents showing the quantity and value of the shipments.

Conformity is is good or bad Conformity is something that can lead to a bad society. Conformity is good but most of the time it its bad because people think that a group of people is always smarter than one person. Conformity does not mean that all people who are a group are right. Unfortunaly conformity is not always right just like in the book The Crucible.

In the summer of 1996, a black man named Rodney Roberts was arrested and charged with the kidnapping and rape of a teenage girl. Proposed with two negative options: a plea deal of nine years in prison and a trial that could result in life imprisonment, Roberts took a plea deal offered to him knowing fully well of his own innocence. More than nine years later, the proposed victim stated in an interview with reporters that she never knew that anyone had been sentenced for her rape and denied ever having identified Roberts as her attacker from a mugshot or lineup. Soon after, in May of 2006, the Essex County prosecutor’s office ordered investigators to look for missing evidence involved in the Roberts case and found the original rape kit still sealed. Upon testing, it was revealed that Roberts was innocent.

Riddle me this: how do you get away with thieving land from another country and have it looked back on as heroic and just? The answer is, ¨be the United States.¨ Somehow, throughout history, this seems to be a recurring theme. A country, no matter how many terrible things they have wrought, are still regarded as great justices by their citizens, as mindless, sheep-like followers of the belief that their country can do no wrong. The United States is one of the greatest founders of this ideology, being able to do horrible things in their past and still wave the same flag through and through with only few eyes batted.

Juries have been around for over one thousand years. “The jury system originated in Normandy and was brought to England by William the Conqueror in 1066” (Judiciary). The jury system back then was more like a group of witnesses telling the court what they knew about the case at hand. When England was introduced to the jury system, “the king reserved it for his use only” (Judiciary). “The jury would provide the king with evidence; and he would in turn make the verdict” (Judiciary).

I believe there had never been a perfect justice system. No matter how complete and thorough a justice system is, once in a while, a wrong person is put in prison. This is due to a lot of factors, such as poor detective work and non-credible eyewitness' testimony, and that the court would allow it anyway. Also, some crimes just simply can't be solve due to lack of evidence. Nonetheless, wrongful convictions must have been reduced over the years, due to the application of advanced technologies.

The aim of this report is to explore the anti – terrorism legislation in depth within Australia, and the effectiveness of it. “Australia has long played a leading role in the development of laws to combat terrorism.” (Australian Government, 2008) The validity of Australian anti – terrorism laws have long been questioned by the contemporary society. One of these being a recent example of five men being charged over an allegedly attempting to leave Australia by boat to join the Islamic State in Syria.