Students, it seems like I’m the only one blogging here. Where are the rest of you? Here’s another amazing story about a likely wrongful conviction.
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/09/07/090907fa_fact_grann?currentPage=all
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I haven’t seen the movie yet, so I introduce a popular case of wrong accusation in my country.
“Chikan” – groping – has been a popular wrong accusing case in Japan.
In many cases, it is difficult to judge whether the person really groped or not in a crowded train.
It needs a long time to verify his innocence and his reputation is destroyed during trial. In many cases, suspected person has to resign his job or, in worst case, commit a suicide.
http://www.japantoday.com/category/kuchikomi/view/mother-of-falsely-accused-groper-who-killed-himself-files-damages-suit
Kei,
This is a very interesting scenario. On one hand I see many similarities to the issues that plague our law enforcement in the U.S. (e.g. egos, pride inhibiting authorities from admitting a mistake, protecting their own, etc.). On the other hand, I wonder if the cultural implications that center on public shamming and disgrace in Asian cultures don’t make this case even more of a fervent call to authorities to manage such cases more carefully. While it is certainly true that in the U.S. public shaming from such events leaves irreversible scars on those wrongfully accused, Asian cultures hold societal perception in incredibly high regard. As such, cases of public shaming from wrongful accusations like the one suffered by Mr. Harada, are only further exacerbated by the cultural sting of societal disgrace.
-Jordana
It will happen anyway for people to get wrongfully convicted. This is not new under the sun. But the problem is that, it has become more prevalent in recent years, because of too many flaws in the justice system. This tells us that more effort needs to be done at educating the police on how to do the work and run investigations. The police should stop having tunnel vision; they should be open-minded, if they want to avoid bad lineups and prevent false confessions. All the different sectors must perform their jobs efficiently without any prejudice, including the media. In criminal cases more importantly, we should use DNA testing before sending people to prison. We must always try to do the best, knowing that every individual life is precious. It is only humanistic to do the right thing by our fellow men. And I support the work of “The Innocence Project” a nonprofit organization dedicated to exonerate wrongfully convicted people.
Lionel
Jordana,
Thank you for commenting.
You are right. Asian (at least in my country) people think it important to save one’s dignity and try not to bring shame on others. This culture may boost the public movement for careful managements toward this kind of cases. Indeed, the public ask authorities (police, prosecutors and so on) are asked to be more careful every time when wrongly accusations are revealed.
I believe that the situation is getting better.
Actually, groping case occur over 5,000 per year (which is about five times as much as that of murder case in my country) and wrongly accusations are still going on. Thus, in my country, women-only cars are introduced in trains & subways to prevent groping by separating male and female.
KEI