American Justice in the Age of Innocence is co-edited by University of Houston Law Center Professor Sandra Guerra Thompson, one of the nation's leading criminal justice scholars, and two of her top students, Hillary K. Valderrama and Jennifer L. Hopgood. Written for judges, lawyers and scholars alike, the publication is a collection of essays which examines the most common causes behind breakdowns in the legal system.
"With the exoneration of over two hundred falsely accused individuals across the United States, this book comes at a time when legislatures around the country are engaged in the subject," Thompson said. "Wrongful convictions result in multiple tragedies—innocent people are wrongly punished, their families suffer greatly as well, states have to pay compensation if and when the innocents are exonerated, and true culprits remain at large to prey on society again."
According to Thompson, American Justice in the Age of Innocence will help prisoners like Cornelius Dupree Jr. After serving 30 years of a 75-year sentence, Dupree was declared innocent of a 1980 conviction for aggravated robbery, which was alleged to have been committed during a rape in Dallas in 1979. Prosecutors cleared him of the crime after a test of his DNA profile did not match the evidence from the case.
"Dupree spent more time in prison in the state than any other inmate who had been exonerated by DNA evidence," Thompson said.
The book was written by Thompson's students as a project that emerged from one of her classes which coincided with her work on the Timothy Cole Advisory Panel on Wrongful Convictions. Thompson represents Texas public law schools on the advisory panel created by the Texas Legislature to give lawmakers guidance on statutory changes that could help discover and prevent wrongful convictions.
Source: PR Newswire, August 17, 2011
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