Publication Date
2015
Document Type
Paper
Keywords
Criminal justice systems, Criminal convictions, Punishment, Accusation evidence, Criminal accusation
Abstract
In the American criminal justice system, accusations have eternal life. Prosecutors, judges, and prison officials regularly consider dismissed charges and even prior acquittals in the defendant’s criminal history when making decisions ranging from the filing of charges to the imposition of punishment. This Article argues that the criminal justice system’s reliance on “accusation evidence” should be understood as furthering its larger allegiance to attaining and preserving findings of guilt.
Once the government obtains a guilty plea or verdict, appellate courts rarely overturn convictions based on concerns about the accuracy of the conviction; indeed, post-conviction review procedures often are structured to prevent meaningful consideration of innocence claims. Appellate courts will eventually cease reconsideration of theconviction altogether, even, in many cases, where legitimate questions about the defendant’s guilt remain. A criminal accusation that did not result in a conviction, on theother hand, can be reconsidered forever – in a variety of contexts, by a variety of government actors, applying low or no standards of proof. Once guilt is obtained, in other words, the system aims to preserve it; and if guilt is eluded, it will pursue it.
The pursuit of guilt as a value unto itself, distinct from the pursuit of truth or the desire to convict the culpable, distorts our system of justice in significant ways. The Article examines the implications of the systemic dedication to the pursuit and preservation of guilt, and suggests ways in which it might, and should, be dismantled.
Rights Holder
Lindsey Webb
Provenance
Received from author
File Format
application/pdf
Language
English (eng)
Extent
48 pgs
File Size
2.9 MB
Publication Statement
Copyright held by the author. User is responsible for all copyright compliance.
Publication Title
Washington Law Review
Volume
90
First Page
1853
Last Page
1900
Recommended Citation
90 Washington Law Review 1853 (2015)