Law Commons^™

Reforming Eyewitness Identification Law And Practices To Protect The Innocent, Margery Koosed

Margery Koosed

This article discusses varying eyewitness identification reform proposals that may help to finally achieve a greater level of reliability in this critical phase of the criminal justice process. The author concludes a comprehensive reform that includes tightening exclusionary rules, along with (minimally) corroboration requirements for death-sentencing, and more appropriately, for convictions in capital and non-capital cases, with a concomitant loosening of standards for relief on appeal, hold the most promise.

The article addresses adopting best practices; assuring compliance by means of exclusion; admitting expert testimony and educating juries; instructing on the vagaries of eyewitness identification; requiring corroboration with independent and …

A Comparative Examination Of The Purpose Of The Criminal Justice System, James Diehm

James W. Diehm

A recent Gallup poll found that only 20% of Americans have a substantial amount of confidence in our criminal justice system, a 14% decline from only four years ago. Since the legitimacy of our criminal justice system depends upon the public’s confidence in that system, this is matter of great concern. As a result of my acquaintance with both our system and the inquisitorial system used in Europe and elsewhere, I am aware of the specific areas that lead the American public to distrust our process and the way in which those areas are dealt with in the inquisitorial system. …