When Justice Is a Game: Unravelling Wrongful Conviction in Canada (Fernwood Basics series)

Confronting the issue of wrongful convictions, this argument contends that these so-called mistakes or failures of the justice system too often target the financially disadvantaged and visible minority groups. Delving into the issues that underscore these decisions, this discussion suggests that the desire to obtain a convictionthereby depicting the police and the court system in a positive lightoften results in false evidence and court decisions based on prejudice and racism. Acknowledging its claims of impartiality, neutrality, and objectivity, this consideration nonetheless submits that the law is a tool designed to maintain the illegitimate domination of society, and that turning to the very system that erred in the first place to correct its errors is in itself a miscarriage of justice.

MaDonna Maidment is a professor in the department of sociology and anthropology at the University of Guelph. She lives in Guelph, Ontario.