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In Praise Of The Guilty Project: A Criminal Defense Lawyer's Growing Anxiety About Innocence Projects, Abbe Smith
In Praise Of The Guilty Project: A Criminal Defense Lawyer's Growing Anxiety About Innocence Projects, Abbe Smith
Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works
There is nothing more compelling than a story about an innocent person wrongly convicted and ultimately vindicated. An ordinary citizen is caught up in the criminal justice system through circumstances beyond his or her control, spends many years in prison, and then one day, with the assistance of a dedicated lawyer, is freed.
Often, when DNA is behind a vindication, not only is the innocent person exonerated but the true perpetrator is identified. This is a significant achievement even though it can also lead apologists for the system—even police and prosecutors implicated in the wrongful conviction—to proudly declare that the …