Black Men & Wrongful Convictions: A look at the intersectionality of race and perception of the criminal justice system

Abstract

This paper operates on the premise that wrongful convictions of black men function as a modern-day contentious force that enforce and disseminate negative implications of the Criminal Justice System. Wrongful convictions of men of color have recently attracted more attention from large media outlets for several significant reasons. These reasons include; (1) disproportionate levels of wrongful convictions of men of color (2) back to back exonerations of men of color; like Timothy Bridges, The Central Park five, Kalief Browder, Pedro Hernandez and Andre Hatchett to name a few (3) police violence against innocent African American boys and men. My research aims at answering the following questions (1) Do wrongful convictions influence African American Men's perception of the Criminal Justice System? (2) What factors have influenced black men's views of the criminal justice system? In this paper, I have reviewed literature about wrongful convictions and perceptions of the criminal justice system. Then I rely on, in-depth interviews to see if wrongful convictions influence perceptions of the Criminal Justice System.