Race, Wrongful Conviction & Exoneration

Race, Wrongful Conviction & Exoneration is a sociological examination of the “sociology of punishment” that is a major problem in criminological research but almost entirely ignored by sociologists who study and research issues related to crime. We argue that although legal scholars have done the bulk of research on exoneration they have not addressed the relationship of race to exoneration. This paper examines the risk that race produces for wrongful conviction and ultimately for exoneration. Additionally, we note the importance of the racial composition of the crime -African American men accused of raping White women - on wrongful convictions and exonerations.