Blind injustice A former prosecutor exposes the psychology and politics of wrongful convictions

The evidence is mounting that the US criminal justice system is less about justice and more about maintaining the system for a host of reasons ranging from the toxicity of bureaucracy to racism. Many voices have been heard: those that have been subject to the system, those that have worked within the system. Godsey (UConn) adds to this increasingly voluminous literature, which is crucial to generating a much-needed evaluation, and to possible reconfiguration or reconsideration of criminal justice as it is practiced in the US. He does much more than this, however, and his book would be an excellent resource for psychology and law courses, as well as for those in forensics. A former prosecutor, Godsey presents a detailed analysis of how the actors involved in prosecuting criminal cases become blinded to the humans they are subjecting to criminal prosecution. This nuanced analysis examines the various ways this "blinding" occurs among prosecutors, judges, and police, as they are ensnared in an inscrutable world view. Godsey uses research, case studies, and contemporary entertainment references, e.g., "Making a Murderer," to illustrate his points, and concludes his work with recommendations for more circumspect practitioners. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty. --Susan Elaine Blankenship, Kentucky State University

The American justice system is currently undergoing major scrutiny and outright attack. In this book, Godsey (law, Univ. of Cincinnati), a cofounder of the Ohio Innocence Project, addresses the problem from his unique perspective as a former prosecutor who became an academic activist for the wrongfully convicted. Though this account resembles a whistle-blower's description of a broken system, the author repeatedly stresses that the problems are mainly owing to psychological, bureaucratic, and political pressures rather than to "bad" people. He competently draws from classical psychology as well as modern research on memory and criminal justice operations. Chapters are organized around negative constructs that pervade the system such as dehumanization, confirmation bias, bureaucratic denial, false memory, faulty interrogation techniques, and tunnel vision. Notorious exoneration cases from Ohio and elsewhere illustrate costly system failures. The hopeful conclusion suggests reasonable reforms, and the volume overall complements Laura Caldwell and Leslie Klinger's Anatomy of Innocence, which details similar cases. Passionate and readable, this book provides meaningful support for the Innocence movement and startling insights into the justice system while admitting the reality of systemic racism but omitting its direct discussion. VERDICT Recommended for students of law and criminal justice as well as serious enthusiasts of crime and forensics.-Antoinette Brinkman, formerly with Southwest Indiana Mental Health Ctr. Lib., Evansville © Copyright 2017. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.