Wrongfully Convicted (Updated and Expanded Edition) - by Kent Roach (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

"Canada's leading authority" (Kirk Makin, journalist and author) explains Canada's national tragedy of wrongful convictions, how anyone could be caught up in them, and what we can do to safeguard justice.Canada has a serious problem: a significant but unknown number of people have been convicted for crimes they didn't commit. There are famous cases of wrongful convictions, such as David Milgaard and Donald Marshall, Jr., where the system convicted the wrong person for murder. But there are lesser-known cases: people who feel they have no option but to plead guilty, and people convicted of crimes that were imagined by experts or the police that never, in fact, happened. Kent Roach, cofounder of the Canadian Registry of Wrongful Convictions, award-winning author, and law professor, has dedicated his illustrious career to documenting flaws in our justice system. His work reveals that the burden of wrongful convictions falls disproportionately on the disadvantaged, including Indigenous and racialized people, those with cognitive issues, single mothers, and the poor. This original and eye-opening book makes a compelling case for change that governments have so far lacked the courage to implement. Canadians would benefit from better legislative regulation of police and forensic experts and the creation of a permanent and independent federal commission investigate wrongful convictions and their multiple causes. But do we have the political will? Roach's research, and the real-life but hard-to-believe cases outlined here, point to systemic failings in our legal system. Many of the wrongfully convicted are still waiting for the promise of justice. It is an issue that affects all Canadians.

Review Quotes

If you think you can imagine yourself being a free and innocent person one day and then an imprisoned and convicted person the next day, you re fooling yourself. Read this book and find out about some of the people who ve suffered this unimaginable fate at the hands of our justice system. . . . This is a plain-language, blunt, and crucial contribution to our ongoing struggle with this profound problem. Hopefully, it will motivate you to join a chorus of voices advocating for changes that are necessary to both try and prevent wrongful convictions from happening and make it fairer to correct them when they do. DAVID ASPER, KC, counsel for David Milgaard