Re-thinking Law & Order
There is no doubt that Law & Order is an addictive show, especially when they are shown back-to-back like on TNT. The problem has only excerbated since I started watching one of the other versions, the Special Victims Unit.
Unfortunately, during the marathon sessions of Law & Order, it can be difficult to distinguish fact from fiction. Law & Order is narrated from the perspective of the police and prosecutors and it is easy to get involved in the process of catching and prosecuting the perpetrators. The show definitely has an unproportionately large number of cases going trial (instead of settling through plea bargains) and the public defenders usually come up with ingenous ways of creating reasonable doubt. But, I am beginning to think that this may not be a very accurate picture.
Recently, I went to a screening of the movie Deadline, which is a harsh criticism of the criminal justice system. The film starts with the story of a group of Northwestern students (in journalism!) who found evidence to exonerate Anthony Porter a few days before his scheduled execution. The film chooses former governor George Ryan as a protagonist as he goes through the process that leads him to put a moratorium on capital punishment in Illinois.
George Ryan put together a commission to review death row cases in Illinois and found that the death penalty system is "fraught with errors". The film suggests that these conditions exist because politicians, starting from the lowest levels are under a lot of pressure to be tough on crime. In many cases involving poor, uninformed defendants, the state in it's overzealousness for punishment can become complicit in the miscarriage of justice.
With this kind of prejudice, it is alarming that the number of people put to death in the US has gone up significantly in the last few decades.
Time for a re-think?
Unfortunately, during the marathon sessions of Law & Order, it can be difficult to distinguish fact from fiction. Law & Order is narrated from the perspective of the police and prosecutors and it is easy to get involved in the process of catching and prosecuting the perpetrators. The show definitely has an unproportionately large number of cases going trial (instead of settling through plea bargains) and the public defenders usually come up with ingenous ways of creating reasonable doubt. But, I am beginning to think that this may not be a very accurate picture.
Recently, I went to a screening of the movie Deadline, which is a harsh criticism of the criminal justice system. The film starts with the story of a group of Northwestern students (in journalism!) who found evidence to exonerate Anthony Porter a few days before his scheduled execution. The film chooses former governor George Ryan as a protagonist as he goes through the process that leads him to put a moratorium on capital punishment in Illinois.
George Ryan put together a commission to review death row cases in Illinois and found that the death penalty system is "fraught with errors". The film suggests that these conditions exist because politicians, starting from the lowest levels are under a lot of pressure to be tough on crime. In many cases involving poor, uninformed defendants, the state in it's overzealousness for punishment can become complicit in the miscarriage of justice.
With this kind of prejudice, it is alarming that the number of people put to death in the US has gone up significantly in the last few decades.
Time for a re-think?
1 Comments:
I love the Law and Order series, but I do think they can be a little overzealous about wanting to convict someone. I know it's a tv show, but they have arrested innocent people...I can't imagine being arrested and being thrown into jail!!
Post a Comment
<< Home