cewilson 's review for:

Actual Innocence: When Justice Goes Wrong and How to Make it Right by Jim Dwyer, Peter Neufeld, Barry Scheck

3.0

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The information presented in this book is incredibe. Scheck et al run through the basics of about a dozen cases of wrongful imprisonment where innocent men wound up in prison, usually on death row, and were later exonerated by DNA evidence through the work of the Innocence Project - some spending more than a decade behind bars for crimes demonstably committed by others. Unfortunately, the writing is really bad. Timelines are sloppy, metaphors are unintentionally hilarious, and much of the book reads like a closing statement on Law and Order. The same information presented by a Tracy Kidder-level writer would be truly mind-blowing. But it's still well worth it - if you advocate the use of capital punishment, you should know how flawed the system is.