{"id":869,"date":"2016-02-02T15:58:24","date_gmt":"2016-02-02T15:58:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/?p=869"},"modified":"2016-02-02T19:53:57","modified_gmt":"2016-02-02T19:53:57","slug":"exonerees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thesocietypages.org\/trot\/2016\/02\/02\/exonerees\/","title":{"rendered":"Un-Making a Murderer Still Leaves a Mark"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Innocence<\/a>
Click to visit the Innocence Project.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Netflix made a big splash in \u201ctrue crime\u201d with its series Making a Murderer<\/em>, chronicling the investigations and trials of Wisconsin man Steven Avery. Exonerated after 18 years in prison for sexual assault in 2003, Avery was arrested for a new crime\u2014murder\u2014in 2007. Public debate about the documentary revolves around whether Avery\u2019s innocent, potential misconduct in the justice system, and the ethics and consequences of documentary \u201cvigilante justice,\u201d but there is little\u00a0doubt Avery was wrongfully convicted the first time around, in 1985. Social science helps us understand the more systematic consequences of incarceration and exoneration that cultural phenomena like Making a Murderer<\/em>, the Serial podcast, and even the upcoming miniseries \u201cThe People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story\u201d bring to our attention.<\/p>\n

Pop culture tends to focus on errors, like witness misidentification and shoddy forensics, but those are not the only things that lead to wrongful convictions. Sociological research shows blacks and Hispanics are at a higher risk, and these groups are, in fact, overrepresented in samples of exonerees. Black exonerees suffer longer periods of incarceration between their conviction and exoneration than other groups. And exonerations often raise questions about the criminal justice system\u2019s authority and legitimacy in the eyes of the public.<\/h5>\n