ABSTRACT

Over the past thirty years, research on wrongful convictions has mainly spotlighted the causes of wrongful conviction including eyewitness misidentification, false confession, misused forensic evidence, government misconduct, and unreliable incentivized witnesses. More recently, researchers have also investigated post-release effects of wrongful convictions on exonerees. One area of research which has largely been ignored is the exoneree’s prison experience. This exploratory study examined the prison experience through the lens of an “innocent inmate.” Twenty-three exonerees were recruited through the use of snowball sampling and interviewed over the phone about their experiences in prison as well as their lives post-release. The majority of exonerees stated that their prison experience was unique from guilty inmates. Exonerees reported that guilty inmates were well-versed on the criminal justice system while innocent inmates struggled to learn the system. Innocent inmates expressed their daily prison lives as mirroring guilty inmates though, unlike their guilty counterparts, they dealt with additional challenges such as attempting to understand why they were incarcerated. They also carried an extra burden of fighting to prove their innocence and their stories never wavered. Given the challenges faced by exonerees post-release, it is clear that greater support is required for them on release. The results of this study reveal the need for education and training programs for criminal justice practitioners to better understand the unique needs of this ignored population.

摘要

近三十年来，对误判的研究主要集中在目击者误认、虚假供述、法医证据滥用、政府不当行为、证人不可靠激励等误判原因。最近，研究人员还调查了错误定罪对无罪释放者的释放后影响。一个在很大程度上被忽视的研究领域是无罪释放者的监狱经历。这项探索性研究通过“无辜囚犯”的镜头审视了监狱经历。通过使用滚雪球抽样招募了 23 名无罪释放者，并通过电话采访了他们在监狱中的经历以及他们出狱后的生活。大多数无罪释放者表示，他们的监狱经历与有罪的囚犯不同。Exonerees 报告说，有罪的囚犯精通刑事司法系统，而无辜的囚犯则努力学习该系统。无辜的囚犯将他们的日常监狱生活表达为有罪囚犯的镜像，但与有罪的囚犯不同，他们面临着额外的挑战，例如试图了解他们为何被监禁。他们还承担了额外的战斗负担，以证明自己的清白，他们的故事从未动摇过。鉴于无罪释放者在释放后面临的挑战，很明显，他们在释放时需要更多的支持。这项研究的结果表明，需要为刑事司法从业人员制定教育和培训计划，以更好地了解这一被忽视人群的独特需求。