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The Thin Blue Line Analysis

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In the 1988 American documentary film, “The Thin Blue Line, by Errol Morris, an American movie director and author, he depicts the story of Randall Dale Adams, a man who was convicted and sentenced to life in prison for murder and David Ray Harris who was also convicted of murder but was able to be free. While driving home, Randall’s car runs out of fuel agrees to hitchhike with David Harris to Dallas. While driving, Harris and Randall become stopped by a Dallas police car that was on the graveyard shift and the car was stolen, therefore the driver takes out his revolver and begins to shoot the incoming officer who was by the window of his car. The police officer, Robert W. Wood, was working the graveyard shift with his partner, one of the first female police officers in Dallas to become assigned a patrol, went over to the car to tell the driver that their headlights weren’t on. The police officer became shot …show more content…

Take the case of the case made against the female police officer, the explanation is that most police officers become seen as professionals who are always ready and able because they are mostly needed to ready at all times in case of danger or a certain event. Take the second case of Dr. Grigson who uses the confirmation bias that all people who he is convicting are guilty psychopaths and will commit murder continuously if they aren’t stopped by the police force. Take the case of the last case where Edith James states that the Texas law doesn’t wish to ruin a young man’s life even if the evidence is pointing toward the person and that they aren’t guilty at all since they are still just kids. These three examples suggest that confirmation bias which is where someone believes something and always has it confirmed is used in this case where a certain person was convicted for a crime that he didn’t

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