The U.S. criminal justice system sometimes sends the wrong people to prison, but luckily, "as pop culture has repeatedly taught us, there is a remedy for wrongful convictions built right into the system," John Oliver said on Sunday's Last Week Tonight. Unfortunately, "the idea that you can simply fight a wrongful conviction and get exonerated runs deep, but the truth is it is far more difficult than you might expect, even if there's compelling evidence that you are innocent."
To start with, "in general, innocence itself is not an appealable issue," Oliver said. "Now, what you can appeal on is any shocking new evidence that wasn't available during your original trial or a claim that your constitutional rights were violated during it, but that's already a long shot." Most state judges simply side with prosecutors and dismiss appeals, and federal judges have their hands tied by a 1995 law called AEDPA. Basically, he said, "when the whole criminal justice system is geared toward getting a conviction, it has very little interest in seeing its work undone."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
In search of paradise in Thailand's western islesThe Week Recommends 'Unspoiled spots' remain, providing a fascinating insight into the past
-
The fertility crisis: can Trump make America breed again?Talking Point The self-styled 'fertilisation president', has been soliciting ideas on how to get Americans to have more babies
-
The fall of SaigonThe Explainer Fifty years ago the US made its final, humiliating exit from Vietnam
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposesspeed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wifespeed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play
-
Giant schnauzer wins top prize at Westminster showSpeed Read Monty won best in show at the 149th Westminster Kennel Club dog show
-
Beyoncé, Kendrick Lamar take top GrammysSpeed Read Beyoncé took home album of the year for 'Cowboy Carter' and Kendrick Lamar's diss track 'Not Like Us' won five awards
-
The Louvre is giving 'Mona Lisa' her own roomSpeed Read The world's most-visited art museum is getting a major renovation
-
Honda and Nissan in merger talksSpeed Read The companies are currently Japan's second and third-biggest automakers, respectively
-
Taylor Swift wraps up record-shattering Eras tourSpeed Read The pop star finally ended her long-running tour in Vancouver, Canada
-
Drake claims illegal boosting, defamationSpeed Read The rapper accused Universal Music of boosting Kendrick Lamar's diss track and said UMG allowed him to be falsely accused of pedophilia
