Robert J. Norris, William D. Hicks, and Kevin J. Mullinix. The Politics of Innocence

Among the pressing criminal justice reform issues facing policymakers and the public is that of wrongful conviction, a term that The Politics of Innocence: How Wrongful Convictions Shape Public Opinion by Robert N. Norris, William D. Hicks, and Kevin J. Mullinix highlights has only come into conversation during most readers’ lifetimes. Yet, wrongful conviction is prominently emphasized in popular media, in true crime format (Serial, Making a Murderer, The Innocent Man) and fictional accounts alike (Proven Innocent, Conviction). Norris, Hicks, and Mullinix provide great insights into how the public digests and feels about innocence issues and, moreover, how states have enacted policies to address the wrongful conviction problem. This book is refreshing. Within the academic discipline of criminal justice, policies are frequently evaluated in an apolitical vacuum, understandably concerned with what effects they have once employed in society. Much less frequently does one see an examination of the causes of policies, which, by their very nature, always have a political component. The Politics of Innocence bridges policy and politics well, noting that there are “political mechanisms underlying the movement’s successes and failures, and these issues have rarely been examined with empirical rigor” (p. 6). Indeed, it recognizes that the importance of constituencies in policymaking and the surveys underpinning the latter part of the book are likely to be of the most interest to those in the field of public opinion.

Criminology · Innocence · Political science · Politics · Psychoanalysis · Public opinion · Sociology · Jury Decision Making Processes · Law · Philosophy · Psychology