The main issue with with our criminal justice system is that we have gotten use to it. Benforado helps us better understand and break down the things we need to fix and not get use to. Each chapter brings a specific point to. Specific areas in the criminal justice system so I will be pointing what area he will be talking about and breaking it down for each chapter. The victim in Chapter 1 that Benforado discusses incorporated biases we have regarding victims of crimes. We frequently give the victims a disgusted label. The labels we give victims can make big impacts in how cases are handled. We commonly then stay with our judgement that we began with even in the face of conflicting evidence. The thing that we can do to help this issue is obvious, stop putting labels on victims and people as a whole.
In chapter 2 we talk about the detective which discusses tactics that are often used by police officers. An example of these tactics are, exposing a suspect to the third degree of an interrogation which can have some serious consequences for the suspect. Incriminating assertion and false confessions are known to be prime reasonings to an unjust convictions. Benforado states that the gold standard of interviewing techniques and the Reid Technique actually is the motivator of a false confessions which depends heavily on a unreliable gut feeling and doubtful suggestion to deception which is the lead cause to a conviction of several innocent people. The people who have confessed at a later time than when they were interrogated confessed that they only made the confession to end the constant pain and abuse of the previous interrogation. When police officers choose to be more lenient when one chooses to confess, it has been shown that confession rates have increased tremendously. A lot of times they will use scare tactics for the people accused for example “confess or you will be sent to prison for life.” In the United States, nine out of ten prisoners have said that they are being punished by the acceptance of their own guilt. Benforado states that our prisons are full of innocent people who had falsely confessed to a crime because of the unfair policing tactics being done.
Benforado talks about the suspect in chapter 3 and the mental illnesses that are common with many if not all prisoners. Many of these prisoners have psychopath traits, which include having little to no empathy for others. They make up estimated only 1 to 2 percent of the general population, the psychopaths in prisons amount to 15 to 25 percent of the incarcerated population rate. Traumatic brain injuries have consumed about 60 percent of prisoners. Benforado talks about how environmental factors cause problems with the brain, for example poor nutrition or lead poisoning are some natural factors can cause brain deficiencies. Mothers who smoke during a pregnancy are three times more likely to have a child with criminal behavior during adulthood. It is commonly known that kids that seem to be an outcast or have delinquent friends that can lead to criminal behavior tend to have a bad home lives such as having abusive parents. Benforado also talks about how holding a weapon can change us. He says crime is implied in society when we made the choice not to control weapons, take away nutrition programs and do not give youths any other options to gangs.
Chapter 4 Benforado talks about the lawyer. Most of us do care about moral behavior although we step over the line quite often. Known evidence have been found that pervasive cheating is part of nearly every stage of life. We do not cheat for cost-be fit of ourselves. We tend to somehow trick ourselves into believe that we really are not behaving that badly which continues the cheating because we think there is nothing wrong with it. The main reason to prosecutorial wrongdoing is that many lawyers are not intentionally trying to cheat defendants, they are just exceedingly good at deceiving themselves. When one person decides to cheat soon we will see other people quickly following right behind. Cheating and dishonesty tends to spread fairly quickly after its been started. Because of how deceiving prosecutors are we should be worried with the amount of control that gives them with the state evidence and witnesses.
Chapter 5, the jury. Within character flaws disagreements do not arise from those who may see things differently. Our experiences and backgrounds shape the way we perceive what seems to be unbiased facts. For example a videotape could lead to wrong ideas, viewpoints and angles of the camera influences the scene. If we put ourselves in the position of standing in other peoples shoes we end up being more likely to attribute their behavior in their common environment, than their temperament and character. When choosing the jury composition, juries should be diverse, Instead of being diverse the jury selection is the opposite, jurors are more likely to see things their ways which are “black and white” instead of putting theirselves in others shoes.
Benforado talks about the eyewitness in chapter 6. Mistaken identifications from an eyewitness is one of the major causes of an unjust convictions. There is only so much a human brain and remember, our memories often fail regularly. Unfortunately our memories are not like video cameras, we remember the things we want to remember while cameras remember things because we make them so that we can remember. Therefore two people that see something will not have the same memory of that event simply because each person chooses what they want to remember which are different things. According to “researchers it has been reported that 73 percent of the 239 convictions overturned through DNA testing were based on eyewitness testimony. One third of these overturned cases rested on the testimony of two or more mistaken eyewitnesses”(Why science, 2010.) Unfortunately when an eyewitness is wrong and an innocent person is convicted of a crime, police stop looking for the actual criminal which could cause danger. Relying on an eyewitness puts people in danger.
Chapter 7 the expert. Often we get things backwards by putting off experts who are more qualified than we are by relying on our own skills that are usually biased and flawed, then we embrace expert evidence when it is actually deceiving. Judges direct jurors to pay attention to the witnesses demeanor, how they act over what they say which defers an expert because they do not actually evaluate their testimony. The common cues for lying such as sweating, making no eye contact, etc. Typically has nothing to do with whether they are speaking the truth or not. So the experts teach us to use things that have no impact in the actual case. Every judge is open to many unappreciated biases that effect their views of unbiased facts, laws and their views. Judges work to ensure they do not stray from the anticipated distribution. Judges are like the rest of us, they tend to make gut decisions then looks for supporting facts, getting rid of inconsistent evidence along the way. They often have an idea of what they are looking for when they are doing research, then they tend to find it.
Chapter 8 the public. Over time the views on crime have changed dramatically. Although racial bias is always common. The color of your skin, the way your lips and nose look are all correlations with capital punishment decision. It has been known that the more beautiful you are the less blameworthy. Over time we have become susceptible to death related issues and now focus on allowing only those people who are willing to put forth the death penalty to serve on capital juries. Chapter 9 the prisoner. Today we have five times as many inmates than we did in 1978. We view prisoners and even potential prisoners. Serious mental illnesses have consumed a large percentage of prisoners, then the prisoners that are released back into society have no support to avoid recidivism. Some even try to commit a crime to be put back into prison because in prison they have meals, and shelter. Outside of prison most of them have nothing. Europe, germany, and the Netherlands focus their correctional systems around re socializing and rehabilitating. The mentally ill gets special benefits and they also have low recidivism rates.
The final two chapters focus on the challenges and the future of the system. The challenge is that the legal system supports the false belief that being unbiased is simply a choice. I believe everyone including legal officials have gotten used to our corrupted system. The starting point to this improvement is simply by understanding and accepting this reality. We need to improve eyewitness identification or do not use them at all.
REVIEW:
In the United States there many things wrong with our legal systems and the book Unfair points out those issues. Some of those wrong doings are, the way victims and suspects are treated and perceived, the wrong ways lawyers and investigators interview people, the bias beliefs of judges, jurors, and the public. The first nine chapters represent and talk about specific roles and issues played by certain people such as the judges, investigators and public. Each chapter goes into detail about each issue in those specific roles. The final two chapters talk about different ways of improving the system. I think Benforado did really well at writing this book because he really hits all of the main issues wrong and brings them to light because most people have no idea what really happens and goes on.
I recommend Unfair: The New Science of Criminal Injustice by Adam Benforado to anyone that has interest in criminal justice because I feel that before you go into a career in criminal justice you need to know the negatives and wrongs of it as well. It was very interesting. The book was well writing and very informative about things people do not know just by living their daily life. It is always good to learn something new in the things that interest you.
References
Arkowitz, H. (2010, January 01). Why Science Tells Us Not to Rely on Eyewitness Accounts. Retrieved from https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/do-the-eyes-have-it/
Benforado, A. (2015). Unfair: The new science of criminal injustice. Crown.
The New Science Behind Our ‘Unfair’ Criminal Justice System. (2015, July 06). Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2015/07/06/418585084/the-new-science-behind-our-unfair-criminal-justice-system