Secondary sources are materials that discuss, explain, analyze, and critique the law. They discuss the law, but are not the law itself. Secondary sources, such as Law Journals, Encyclopedias, and Treatises are a great place to start your legal research. Unlike primary sources (case law, statutes, regulations, etc.), secondary sources will help you learn about an area of law, provide you with the scope of the law, and will provide you with citations to applicable and relevant primary law materials.
American Law Reports (frequently abbreviated and referred to as ALR) contains in-depth articles on narrow topics of the law. ALR articles, called annotations, provide background, analysis, and citations to relevant cases, statutes, law review articles, and other annotations.
ALR annotations are not jurisdiction specific. Each annotation contains a Table of Jurisdictions to help you find relevant cases within specific states. In the federal series, the Table of Jurisdictions directs you to cases by circuit.
Find relevant annotations by using the print indices or searching the ALR databases in Lexis or Westlaw. When using ALR electronically, it is most efficient to look for your terms in the titles of the annotations, since their titles are specific, and reflect their contents.
- Lexis+ This link opens in a new window
Legal research system for Vanderbilt Law School faculty, students and staff. Please see a reference librarian for assistance.
- Westlaw This link opens in a new window
Legal research system for Vanderbilt Law School faculty, students and staff. Please see a reference librarian for assistance.
Treatises, not to be confused with treaties, are book-length expositions on the law as it pertains to a particular subject. Treatises may be scholarly in nature, such as Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Law, or they may be geared toward a legal practitioner, such as a manual or handbook. Some treatises are designed to serve as practitioners’ tools. These works tend to address realistic legal problems and often provide useful features for practicing lawyers, such as forms and tables.
A legal treatise may be a short, single volume or a large, multivolume set. Many are available electronically as well as in print.
Using Treatises: Using legal treatises is like using any non-law book with a few special advisories.
- First, as with any book, use the table of contents and the index to quickly locate relevant sections.
- Second, remember that for a publication to provide reliable coverage of contemporary issues, it must be updated regularly and accurately to reflect any changes in the law. Updating may happen through the addition of pocket parts (which are usually tucked in a pocket in the back cover of a volume), by updated pages in a looseleaf, or periodic republication or an entire volume. Researchers should always make sure they are working with the most current edition of the treatise and be sure to consult pocket parts.
- Third, while many treatises are still only available in print, more treatises are becoming available online. For example, major treatises on insurance law are available in both Lexis and Westlaw. Electronic versions of treatises allow for full text searching, which can be valuable for research. For more focused search results, consider narrowing your search to relevant sections, if possible. In many cases, you can still access the tables of contents and indexes to help locate chapters or sections of interest.
- Remember that you can (and should!) check to see how current the electronic text is by clicking the "i" link next to the title of the treatise to see how regularly it is updated and when the last update took place.
Selected & Recommended Treatises:
- Bennett Gershman, Prosecutorial MisconductSets forth guidelines to determine what legally constitutes prosecutorial misconduct, and how to anticipate and counteract possible abuses.
- Brian R. Means, Postconviction RemediesWritten by the author of the Federal Habeas Manual, A Guide to Habeas Corpus Litigation, Postconviction Remedies covers each aspect of the postconviction review process along with thorough analysis and extensive citations. Written to make the application of complex and changing legal principles as straightforward as possible, the text identifies controlling legal standards and developing issues, and uses case examples to illustrate how legal doctrines are applied. The text also distinguishes the multitude of remedies available, describes them in detail, and offers solutions for problems that may arise.
- Donald E. Wilkes, Federal Post Conviction Remedies and Relief Handbook with FormsThe significance of postconviction remedies has greatly increased due to the nationwide trend to impose harsher punishments on repeat offenders. This title keeps you up-to-date on recent changes in federal postconviction procedure. It deals at length with the six principal federal postconviction remedies for federal convicts, and federal habeas corpus remedy for state convicts. Forms, appendixes, and an extensive bibliography are also included.
- Joseph F. Lawless, Proescutorial MisconductWe've all encountered prosecutors who are only interested in improving their "conviction scorecard" and regularly tread on the Bill of Rights in the name of their own ambition. In the wake of scandals such as Enron, Arthur Anderson, ImClone and WorldCom, lawmakers have given federal and state prosecutors expanded, unbridled power to investigate and prosecute, fueling this ambition and encouraging prosecutorial abuse.Now, Philadelphia lawyer Joseph F. Lawless, a former Assistant District Attorney, Special Prosecutor and active criminal defense lawyer gives you the benefit of his 27 years of experience to help protect your clients from prosecutorial misconduct with this authoritative and practical work.Considered the definitive treatise on the subject, Prosecutorial Misconduct: Law, Procedure, Forms provides a comprehensive and scholarly analysis of every prosecutorial abuse, from the initiation of a criminal investigation through the appeal and post-conviction stages for both federal and state jurisdictions. Unlike other works, however, Prosecutorial Misconduct also provides the defense bar with proven battle plans.
- Lawrence Taylor & Jonathan M. Purver, Handling Criminal AppealsHandling Criminal Appeals offers guidance for handling and adjudicating criminal appeals, from review of the record to brief writing and oral advocacy, intended for both defense attorneys and prosecutors.
- Nancy M. Burkoff & John M. Burkoff, Ineffective Assistance of CounselThis text focuses exclusively on ineffective assistance claims, including state and federal constitutional standards for ineffectiveness.
- Paul C. Giannelli et al., Scientific EvidenceScientific Evidence explains in clear terms the latest forensic techniques and scientific concepts used in collecting and evaluating evidence. Organized logically for the active litigator, Scientific Evidence first covers rules and precedents relating to admissibility, constitutional limitations, discovery, expert testimony, laboratory reports, and chain of custody. It then analyzes the most frequently encountered scientific evidence. The reference cited by the Supreme Court in Daubert v. Merrill Dow explains such current developments as hypnotically-refreshed testimony, DNA technologies such as RFLP and PCR, computerized accident reconstruction, securing expert assistance, questioned document examination, and bite mark comparison.
- Wayne R. LaFave et al., Criminal ProcedureFocusing on the pattern used by most states, the authors of Criminal Procedure provide step-by-step guidance through the typical state court criminal justice system. The authors explore every facet of criminal procedure from pre-arrest to pretrial, trial, postconviction, and appellate proceedings. Footnote documentation citing pivotal Supreme Court decisions is included.
Law review or journal articles are another great secondary source for legal research, valuable for the depth in which they analyze and critique legal topics, as well as their extensive references to other sources, including primary sources. Law review articles often focus on new or emerging areas of law and they can offer more critical commentary than a legal encyclopedia or ALR entry.
To find articles in journals, you will generally consult an index (in paper or online) or search online for full text.
I. Indices/Law Periodicals
Any of these indices is designed to provide you with a specific citation to a specific article. Armed with a specific citation you can locate the cited literature by searching our library catalog. If our library does not own the publication you seek, then you can request it from interlibrary loan, an online service of this library.
- Current Index to Legal Periodicals (CILP)Current indexing of legal periodical literature, available through HeinOnline. CILP offers subject access to nearly 500 journals, as well as the tables of contents of these journals. Journals tend to appear in CILP two to three weeks after their publication.
- Index to Legal Periodicals and Books This link opens in a new windowLegal information, with international coverage of scholarly articles, symposia, jurisdictional surveys, court decisions, legislation, books, book reviews, law review and other legal periodicals articles, etc.
- LegalTrac This link opens in a new windowIndexing for major law reviews, legal newspapers, bar association journals, and international legal journals. Law-related articles from business and general interest titles.
- NCJRS (National Criminal Justice Reference Service) Abstracts Database This link opens in a new windowCorrections, courts, crime prevention, criminal justice statistics, drugs and crime, international resources, juvenile justice, law enforcement, research and evaluation, and victims. Index, abstracts, and some full-text.
II. Full Text Databases
In many instances, the specific journal article you wish to read can be found on a full text database. Both Lexis Advance and Westlaw Edge contain full text of thousands of law review articles. Lexis Advance now offers full text coverage of more than 400 law reviews, and Westlaw Edge provides full text coverage of 475 journals, combined with abstracted or selective coverage of more than 600 journals. This substantial full text coverage does not supplant the usefulness of periodical indices, however, for at least two reasons. First, Lexis Advance covers fewer than 450 law journals and law reviews, and Westlaw Edge's coverage of 600 journals is often selective or limited to abstracts. Second, at least 300 of Westlaw Edge's online full text journals begin in 1993 or later, and only 100 of the full text journals on Lexis Advance begin before 1993.
Another full text database, HeinOnline, is a pdf based collection of full text legal research materials, including over 2,600 law-related periodicals dating back to their inception.
- Lexis+ This link opens in a new window
Legal research system for Vanderbilt Law School faculty, students and staff. Please see a reference librarian for assistance.
- Westlaw This link opens in a new window
Legal research system for Vanderbilt Law School faculty, students and staff. Please see a reference librarian for assistance.
- HeinOnline This link opens in a new window
Comprehensive legal research database. Extensive coverage of law reviews and historical access to resources such as the Federal Register, the Code of Federal Regulations, and US Supreme Court decisions. Legislative history and select foreign and international materials. Contains specialized libraries: intellectual property, taxation and economic reform, etc.
III. Non-Law Indices
- JSTOR This link opens in a new windowLarge and important archive for academic journals, books, and primary sources in the humanities, social sciences, and sciences. Many journals do not have current issues.
- ProQuest Social Science Premium Collection This link opens in a new window
International literature in the social sciences: politics, sociology, social services, anthropology, criminology and education. IBSS, PAIS and Sociological Abstracts. Abstracts, indexing and full text of articles, books, chapters, dissertations, working papers.
• Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts (ASSIA)
• Criminal Justice Database
• Education Database
• ERIC
• International Bibliography of the Social Sciences (IBSS)
• Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts (LLBA)
• PAIS Index
• Political Science Database
• PTSDpubs
• Social Science Database
• Social Services Abstracts
• Sociological Abstracts
• Sociology Database
• Worldwide Political Science Abstracts
- Worldwide Political Science Abstracts (WPSA) This link opens in a new windowCitations, abstracts, and indexing of the international serials literature in political science international relations, law, and public administration / policy. Includes merged backfiles of Political Science Abstracts and ABC POL SCI.
Wrongful Conviction by Call Number: KF9756 .A25 2011ISBN: 9781594607530Publication Date: 2011-07-01This volume addresses issues of law, science, and policy related to wrongful convictions in the American system of justice. Coverage includes the incidence, correlates, causes, and consequences of wrongful convictions, as well as recommended reforms. The materials are organized in the form of a casebook, comprising edited judicial decisions and complementary materials from law, psychology, criminal justice, and related disciplines.
Controversies in Innocence Cases in America by Call Number: KF9756 .C66 2014ISBN: 9781409463542Publication Date: 2014-05-22Controversies in Innocence Cases in America brings together leading experts on the investigation, litigation, and scholarly analysis of innocence cases in America, from legal, political and ethical perspectives. The contributors, many of whom work on these cases daily, investigate contemporary issues presented by innocence cases and the exoneration movement as a whole. These issues include the challenges faced by the movement, causes of wrongful convictions, problems associated with investigating, proving, and defining 'innocence', and theories of reform. Each issue is placed within a multi-disciplinary perspective to provide cogent observations and recommendations for the effective handling of these cases, and for what changes should be adopted in order to improve the American criminal justice system when it is faced with its most harrowing sight: an innocent defendant.
Examining Wrongful Convictions by Call Number: KF9756 .E93 2014ISBN: 9781611632521Publication Date: 2014-07-16In Examining Wrongful Convictions: Stepping Back, Moving Forward, the premise is that much can be learned by ''stepping back'' from the focus on the direct causes of wrongful convictions and examining criminal justice systems, and the sociopolitical environments in which they operate. Expert scholars examine the underlying individual, systemic, and social or structural conditions that may help precipitate and sustain wrongful convictions, thereby ''moving forward'' the related scholarship.
Wrongful Convictions of Women by Call Number: KF9756 .F74 2016ISBN: 9781626375062Publication Date: 2016-04-15Marvin Free and Mitch Ruesink reveal the distinctive role that gender dynamics so often play in the miscarriage of justice.
Examining more than 160 cases involving such charges as homicide, child abuse, and drug-related offenses, the authors explore systemic failures in both policing and prosecution. They also highlight the intersecting roles of gender and race. Demonstrating how women encounter circumstances that are qualitatively different than those of men, the authors illuminate unique challenges facing women in the criminal justice system.
Convicting the Innocent by Call Number: KF9756 .G37 2011ISBN: 9780674058705Publication Date: 2011-04-04On January 20, 1984, Earl Washington-defended for all of forty minutes by a lawyer who had never tried a death penalty case-was found guilty of rape and murder in the state of Virginia and sentenced to death. After nine years on death row, DNA testing cast doubt on his conviction and saved his life. However, he spent another eight years in prison before more sophisticated DNA technology proved his innocence and convicted the guilty man. DNA exonerations have shattered confidence in the criminal justice system by exposing how often we have convicted the innocent and let the guilty walk free. In this unsettling in-depth analysis, Brandon Garrett examines what went wrong in the cases of the first 250 wrongfully convicted people to be exonerated by DNA testing. Based on trial transcripts, Garrett's investigation into the causes of wrongful convictions reveals larger patterns of incompetence, abuse, and error. Evidence corrupted by suggestive eyewitness procedures, coercive interrogations, unsound and unreliable forensics, shoddy investigative practices, cognitive bias, and poor lawyering illustrates the weaknesses built into our current criminal justice system. Garrett proposes practical reforms that rely more on documented, recorded, and audited evidence, and less on fallible human memory. Very few crimes committed in the United States involve biological evidence that can be tested using DNA. How many unjust convictions are there that we will never discover? Convicting the Innocent makes a powerful case for systemic reforms to improve the accuracy of all criminal cases.
Blind Injustice by Call Number: KF9756 .G63 2017ISBN: 9780520287952Publication Date: 2017-10-10In this unprecedented view from the trenches, prosecutor turned champion for the innocent Mark Godsey takes us inside the frailties of the human mind as they unfold in real-world wrongful convictions. Drawing upon stories from his own career, Godsey shares how innate psychological flaws in judges, police, lawyers, and juries coupled with a "tough on crime" environment can cause investigations to go awry, leading to the convictions of innocent people. In Blind Injustice, Godsey explores distinct psychological human weaknesses inherent in the criminal justice system--confirmation bias, memory malleability, cognitive dissonance, bureaucratic denial, dehumanization, and others--and illustrates each with stories from his time as a hard-nosed prosecutor and then as an attorney for the Ohio Innocence Project. He also lays bare the criminal justice system's internal political pressures. How does the fact that judges, sheriffs, and prosecutors are elected officials influence how they view cases? How can defense attorneys support clients when many are overworked and underpaid? And how do juries overcome bias leading them to believe that police and expert witnesses know more than they do about what evidence means? This book sheds a harsh light on the unintentional yet routine injustices committed by those charged with upholding justice. Yet in the end, Godsey recommends structural, procedural, and attitudinal changes aimed at restoring justice to the criminal justice system.
Exonerated by Call Number: KF9756 .N67 2017ISBN: 9781479886272Publication Date: 2017-05-16The fascinating story behind the innocence movement's quest for justice. Documentaries like Making a Murderer, the first season of Serial, and the cause célèbre that was the West Memphis Three captured the attention of millions and focused the national discussion on wrongful convictions. This interest is warranted: more than 1,800 people have been set free in recent decades after being convicted of crimes they did not commit. In response to these exonerations, federal and state governments have passed laws to prevent such injustices; lawyers and police have changed their practices; and advocacy organizations have multiplied across the country. Together, these activities are often referred to as the "innocence movement." Exonerated provides the first in-depth look at the history of this movement through interviews with key leaders such as Barry Scheck and Rob Warden as well as archival and field research into the major cases that brought awareness to wrongful convictions in the United States. Robert Norris also examines how and why the innocence movement took hold. He argues that while the innocence movement did not begin as an organized campaign, scientific, legal, and cultural developments led to a widespread understanding that new technology and renewed investigative diligence could both catch the guilty and free the innocent. Exonerated reveals the rich background story to this complex movement.
In Spite of Innocence by Call Number: KF9756 .R33 1992ISBN: 1555531970Publication Date: 1994-05-26Few errors made by society can compare with the horror of executing a person wrongly convicted of a crime. This sobering book, which includes an expanded preface, tells the personal stories of over 400 innocent Americans convicted of capital crimes. Some were actually executed; most suffered years of incarceration, many on death row.
Safety from False Convictions by Call Number: KF9756 .S36 2016ISBN: 9781536823738Publication Date: 2016-07-31This book provides readers with an exploration of ways to reduce the rate of false convictions in the criminal justice system. The criminal justice system should be seen as a Safety-Critical System, specifically a system that deals with matters of life and death, where any error is likely to cause grave harm to both the individual and society. Implementing safety in criminal law is necessary, both morally and economically. Incorporating into the criminal justice system a modern safety theory that is commonly accepted in other areas, such as space, aviation, engineering, and transportation, is an idea that was developed jointly by myself and Dr. Mordechai Halpert and presented mainly in the coauthored article "A Safety Doctrine for the Criminal Justice System." This is the starting point of the book. The book expands the preliminary proposition and engages in the application of the modern safety theory and methods in the criminal justice system. Thus, for example, the book demonstrates how the fundamentally important Identify-Analyze-Control method can and should be implemented in the system, using Nancy Leveson's STAMP's model ("System-Theoretic Accident Model and Processes"). This is the first book that proposes a general theory of safety for the criminal justice system. It provides specific safety rules for certain types of criminal evidence and criminal law procedures.
Wrongful Convictions and the DNA Revolution by Call Number: KF9756 .W76 2017ISBN: 9781107129962Publication Date: 2017-03-30For centuries, most people believed the criminal justice system worked - that only guilty defendants were convicted. DNA technology shattered that belief. DNA has now freed more than three hundred innocent prisoners in the United States. This book examines the lessons learned from twenty-five years of DNA exonerations and identifies lingering challenges. By studying the dataset of DNA exonerations, we know that precise factors lead to wrongful convictions. These include eyewitness misidentifications, false confessions, dishonest informants, poor defense lawyering, weak forensic evidence, and prosecutorial misconduct. In Part I, scholars discuss the efforts of the Innocence Movement over the past quarter century to expose the phenomenon of wrongful convictions and to implement lasting reforms. In Part II, another set of researchers looks ahead and evaluates what still needs to be done to realize the ideal of a more accurate system.
False Justice by ISBN: 9781138782990Publication Date: 2014-07-18Compelling 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 newly 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.
Actual Innocence by ISBN: 9780451209825Publication Date: 2003-12-02Here are the stories of innocent men and women--and the system that put them away under the guise of justice. Now updated with new information, Actual Innocence sheds light on "a system that tolerates lying prosecutors, slumbering defense attorneys and sloppy investigators" (Salt Lake Tribune)--revealing the shocking flaws that can derail the legal process and the ways that DNA testing has often shattered so-called solid evidence that condemned American citizens to death.
Grave Injustice by ISBN: 9781612341620Publication Date: 2013-04-01On September 21, 2011, the controversial execution of Georgia inmate Troy Davis, who spent twenty years on death row for a crime he most likely did not commit, revealed the complexity of death penalty trials, the flaws in America's justice system, and the rift between those who are for or against the death penalty. Davis's execution reignited a long-standing debate about whether the death penalty is an appropriate form of justice. In Grave Injustice Richard A. Stack seeks to advance the anti-death penalty argument by examining the cases of individuals who, like Davis, have been executed but are likely innocent. By telling the stories of Jesse Tafero, Ruben Cantu, Carlos DeLuna, Cameron Todd Willingham, Larry Griffin, and others, Stack puts a human face on the ultimate and irrevocable tragedy of capital punishment. Although polls indicate Americans favor death sentences approximately three to one, many respondents change their position when presented with the facts about capital punishment. Stack's compelling descriptions of nineteen wrongful executions illustrate the flaws of the death penalty, which, he argues, is ineffective in deterring crime and costs more than sentences of life without parole. He demonstrates that racial disparities in implementation, procedural errors, incompetent defense attorneys, and mistaken eyewitness identification lead to an alarming number of wrongful convictions. But influencing public opinion is only part of the battle to end state-sanctioned killing. Stack profiles six anti-death penalty warriors, demonstrating the range of what can be done, and what remains to be done, to move toward a more compassionate society.
Wrongful Convictions and Miscarriages of Justice by ISBN: 9780415539951Publication Date: 2013-02-26This innovative work builds on Huff and Killias¿ earlier publication (2008), but is broader and more thoroughly comparative in a number of important ways:¿ (1) while focusing heavily on wrongful convictions, it places the subject of wrongful convictions in the broader contextual framework of miscarriages of justice and provides discussions of different types of miscarriages of justice that have not previously received much scholarly attention by criminologists; (2) it addresses, in much greater detail, the questions of how, and how often, wrongful convictions occur; (3) it provides more in-depth consideration of the role of forensic science in helping produce wrongful convictions and in helping free those who have been wrongfully convicted; (4) it offers new insights into the origins and current progress of the innocence movement, as well as the challenges that await the exonerated when they return to "free" society; (5) it assesses the impact of the use of alternatives to trials (especially plea bargains in the U.S. and summary proceedings and penal orders in Europe) in producing wrongful convictions; (6) it considers how the U.S. and Canada have responded to 9/11 and the increased threat of terrorism by enacting legislation and adopting policies that may exacerbate the problem of wrongful conviction; and (7) it provides in-depth considerations of two topics related to wrongful conviction:¿ voluntary false confessions and convictions which, although technically not wrongful since they are based on law violations, represent another type of miscarriage of justice since they are due solely to unjust laws resulting from political repression.¿
Statistics:
- Bureau of Justice StatisticsThe Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS) is the United States' primary source for criminal justice statistics.
- Sage Data This link opens in a new window
Dynamically compare and manipulate statistical data to create tables, maps, and figures.
- FBI Uniform Crime ReportsThe UCR Program's primary objective is to generate reliable information for use in law enforcement administration, operation, and management; over the years, however, the data have become one of the country’s leading social indicators. The program has been the starting place for law enforcement executives, students of criminal justice, researchers, members of the media, and the public at large seeking information on crime in the nation.
- National Archive of Criminal Justice StatisticsEstablished in 1978, the National Archive of Criminal Justice Data (NACJD) archives and disseminates data on crime and justice for secondary analysis. The archive contains data from over 2,700 curated studies or statistical data series. NACJD is home to several large-scale and well known datasets, including the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), the FBI's Uniform Crime Reports (UCR), the FBI's National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), and the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN).
- The National Registry of ExonerationsThe mission of The National Registry of Exonerations is to provide comprehensive information on exonerations of innocent criminal defendants in order to prevent future false convictions by learning from past errors.
- ProQuest Statistical Insight This link opens in a new windowFederal, state, and international statistical, economic, demographic, and geographic information. National income and production statistics, retail and wholesale trade data, interest rates, economic indicators, and social and demographic statistics, plus data on energy, environmental protection, agriculture, fisheries, crime, etc.
- Statistical Abstract of the United States (ProQuest) This link opens in a new windowExtensive selection of statistics for the United States, with selected data for regions, divisions, states, metropolitan areas, cities, and foreign countries from reports and records of government and private agencies.
Opinion Polls:
Opinion polls are a resource for gathering public responses to various issues. Please note how the polls were conducted as this will provide a better understanding of the information presented.
- iPOLL (Roper Center) This link opens in a new windowPublic opinion poll data: poll questions and answers, datasets, and survey questionnaires from academic, commercial, and media polls on opinions and behaviors from major survey research organizations in the United State, including Gallup, Pew, Annenburg Public Policy Center, and news organizations, such as CNN, CBS, ABC, NBC, the New York Times.
- Polling the Nations This link opens in a new window
Poll questions and responses from national, state, local and special public opinion polls and surveys conducted by polling organizations in the United States and other countries.
Many of the national organizations listed in the Current Awareness tab of this research guide conduct studies with federal funds which result in published reports. An example report, selected by Professor Maroney, has been provided below.
- Predicting Erroneous Convictions: A Social Science Approach to Miscarriages of Justice (Feb 2013)The authors (Jon B. Gould, Julia Carrano, Richard Leo, and Joseph Young) used federal funds provided by the U.S. Department of Justice and prepared this, their final report. This report has not been published by the U.S. Department of Justice. NCJRS made this federally funded grant report available electronically. Opinions or points of view expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official position or policies of the U.S. Department of Justice.
Keywords
When searching for materials concerning wrongful conviction, consider using the following keywords or phrases, or a variation or synonym related to these keywords (listed A-Z):
| actual innocence | adequacy of counsel | adequacy of representation |
AEDPA (Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act of 1996) |
| clemency |
collateral consequences |
DNA |
effectiveness of counsel |
| erroneous conviction |
evidence |
exonerate or exonerations |
eyewitness error |
| eyewitness misidentification |
false or coerced confessions |
false imprisonment |
flawed forensic science |
| faulty forensic science | habeas corpus | inadequate legal defense |
incentivized witnesses |
| incompetent defense lawyering |
ineffective assistance of counsel |
informants | innocence |
| judicial error |
miscarriage of justice |
newly discovered evidence |
official misconduct |
| post-conviction DNA testing | post-conviction proceedings | post-conviction relief |
post-conviction remedies |
| prosecutorial misconduct |
wrongful conviction |
