This blogpost calls for governors and presidents to make better use of the
pardon power. The more we learn about the frequency of wrongful convictions (from false confessions and other causes), the
more important this power becomes.
Last week I posted about prison overcrowding. This thoughtful piece by Peter Schuck, a professor of mine back in the
day, offers a nice suggestion for reducing the problem.
Kudos to Attorney General
Holder, who recently ordered the Justice Department to end a terrible prosecutorial practice: demanding, as a condition
of guilty pleas, that defendants waive their right to post-conviction DNA testing. We
must not lose sight of the fact that guilty pleas are a fertile source of false confessions.
Earlier this week the Supreme Court heard arguments over whether California's
overcrowded prisons amount to a constitutional violation. The problem of deplorable prison conditions is even more acute when
we bear in mind that some inmates are innocent.
