Compelling and engagingly written, this book by former Attorney General of Ohio Jim Petro and his wife, writer Nancy Petro, takes the reader inside actual cases, summarizes extensive research on the causes and consequences of wrongful conviction, and exposes eight common myths that inspire false confidence in the justice system and undermine reform. Now published in paperback with an extensive list of web links to wrongful conviction sources internationally, False Justice is ideal for use in a wide array of criminal justice and criminology courses.
Myth 1: Everyone in prison claims innocence.
Myth 2: Our system almost never convicts an innocent person. Myth 3: Only the guilty confess.
Myth 4: Wrongful conviction is the result of innocent human error. Myth 5: An eyewitness is the best testimony. Myth 6: Conviction errors get corrected on appeal.
Myth 7: It dishonors the victim to question a conviction.
Myth 8: If the justice system has problems, the pros will fix them.
Jim Petro is a former elected Attorney General of Ohio. Committed to a strong law-and-order platform, he launched a breakthrough effort that added 210,000 criminal DNA profiles to the CODIS database, solving countless cold cases but also revealing wrongful convictions. He retired from public service in 2013 as Chancellor of Ohio’s public colleges and universities to focus on criminal justice reform and advocacy.
Nancy Petro pursued a career in marketing, publishing, and business management before focusing in 2008 on writing and advocating for criminal justice reform.