False Justice: A Former State Attorney General Confronts Our Broken Criminal Justice System and Exposes 12 Myths That Convict the Innocent

Former Ohio Attorney General crusades against wrongful conviction and shows how citizens can prevent this terrifyingly common miscarriage of justice.

“Wrongful criminal conviction is much more frequent than most Americans believe. The thought of imprisoned innocent people haunted me. I became determined to try to do something about it.” —Jim Petro, Former Attorney General of Ohio

The flaws in America’s execution of justice lead to an unacceptable number of wrongful criminal convictions. Jim Petro was confronted with this issue when the guilt of several convicts serving life sentences was called into question. In False Justice, Jim and Nancy Petro detail and challenge twelve myths of justice:

1. “Everyone in prison claims innocence.”
2. “The conviction of an innocent person is extremely rare.”
3. “Only the guilty confess.”
4. “Wrongful convictions are accidental and unintentional.”
5. “Eyewitness testimony is the best evidence.”
6. “Conviction errors get corrected on appeal.”
7. “Questioning a conviction dishonors the victim.”
8. “The pros will fix the justice system.”
9. “Forensic science is trustworthy.”
10. ”Juries are prepared and qualified to decide cases fairly.”
11. “Innocent people never plead guilty.”
12. “Our system delivers fair and equal justice for all.”

False Justice corrects these common misunderstandings with an important truth: true justice requires constant vigilance and is the responsibility of every citizen.

Jim Petro was a practicing attorney and served as an elected four-term Ohio state legislator, and a two-term Ohio Auditor of State, before he was 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, which solved many cold cases but also revealed wrongful convictions. He retired in 2013 as Chancellor of Ohio’s public colleges and universities and remains an advocate for criminal justice reform.

Nancy Petro had a career in marketing, publishing, entrepreneurship, and business management before her introduction to wrongful criminal conviction through her husband Jim Petro’s work. Nancy retired as president of a sports software company to focus on criminal justice reform advocacy. She has authored or co-authored op-eds, blog articles, academic book chapters, and three editions of False Justice.