The grim world of wrongful convictions is one that’s constantly being explored in true crime podcasts and TV shows. But just how widespread is the problem in the U.S., why’s it happening, and what can be done to stop it?
These are the question John Oliver attempts to tackle in his latest Last Week Tonight segment, discussing everything from the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act (AEDPA) tying the hands of appeals courts to the fact that innocent Black people are seven times more likely to be convicted of murder than innocent white people.
“We need to make this a priority,” Oliver concludes, arguing that the U.S. should get rid of AEDPA and elect prosecutors who will undertake conviction integrity reviews. “Because right now we have a system where people can be wrongly convicted, with bad defence attorneys, and left to fight in a convoluted appeal system with little to no help. At which point it really feels like our system is essentially guilty until proven rich, or lucky.
“That has to change, because we cannot keep letting the most vulnerable be casualties of a system that cares more about quick and final decision than actually correct ones.”
