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> The problem is that the justice system is not perfect, and occasionally convicts an innocent person. Occasionally? Given the 4% rate of false conviction for
by thatswrong0 12y ago
> The problem is that the justice system is not perfect, and occasionally convicts an innocent person.
Occasionally? Given the 4% rate of false conviction for death penalty defendents (http://www.pnas.org/content/111/20/7230.abstract http://www.pnas.org/content/111/20/7230.abstract) and the fact that 97% percent of criminal cases dealt with in the U.S. don't even go to trial, it's far more than occasionally. Often. Quite often.
- shasta 12y agoOne of the central tenets of our criminal justice system is that it is better that two and a half guilty men be set free than for one innocent man to be falsely convicted.
- thaumasiotes 12y agoWithout disagreeing, consider the following thought experiment: The rate of conviction in Hypothetica is 100% for all crimes. If you're charged, you get convicted. What percentage of the convicted were convicted falsely?