Innocent Prisoner’s Dilemma
Speaking for those trapped...
You've heard of Prisoner's Dilemma in Economics and Game Theory; but Professor Daniel Medwed of Utah identified and came up with the concept of 'Innocent Prisoner's Dilemma.
It's interesting and if you could imagine yourself in the shoes of those 'innocent criminals', you'll find it really frustrating - much like the good old Prisoner's Dilemma of game theory. Thanks to Justin, I discovered that The New York Times produced a really good video on it, discussing the case of a black man who was jailed for 29 years being wrongly convicted of murder and robbery, now free only on parole. Essentially the life of the man is ruined by the system that serves to trap him within a mistake that was made by others.
Lawyers-to-be, especially those interested in criminal laws should really give this a good thought.
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June 6th, 2010 - 12:29
One difference that I have to point out is that in that unfortunate case highlighted by The New York Times, it was a trial by jury. That means a trial by non-legally trained personnel as compared to the learned judges. In that sense, these jury members may not be able to grasp the legal concepts in question as ably as the learned judges.
In the same way, you wouldn’t want a butcher to remove your appendix as compared to a qualified surgeon right?!
June 6th, 2010 - 16:01
That’s very true that the issue here is somewhat restricted to certain systems and same for the parole system; it is in US and not many countries have such system for criminals. The issue is that the entire system, of juries, of parole and such are all designed such that they should conduct justice. Here, we identify a problematic flaw that is uncorrectable by the system itself. Your critique is of merely the jury system; but the issue at hand extends beyond that, to the robust-ness of the design of the justice system – whether it can correct its own mistakes and carry out its true purpose.