New York Man Wrongfully Convicted of 1990 Crime Will Be Released (3/20/2013)
Documentary Spotlights Bad Lawyering (3/20/2013)
Florida Officer Linked to Two Wrongful Convictions (3/19/2013)
New York State Leaders and Lawmakers Call for Better Indigent Defense (3/19/2013)
Life After Exoneration, with Compensation, or Without (3/18/2013)
Maryland Gov. Cites Risk of Executing Innocent Person in Decision to Repeal (3/18/2013)
Science News - March 15, 2013 (3/15/2013)
North Carolina Exoneree to Reunite With Sister After 40 Years (3/15/2013)
RSS FeedInnocence Blog
Congressional panel hears testimony on criminal informants
Posted: July 19, 2007 4:19 pm
A hearing this morning of two U.S. House of Representatives judiciary subcommittees featured the testimony of several national experts on the use of criminal informants by police. Among those testifying was Alexandra Natapoff, a professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles. Her written testimony advocates for better oversight on the use of criminal informants:
The government’s use of criminal informants is largely secretive, unregulated, and unaccountable. This is especially true in connection with street crime and urban drug enforcement. This lack of oversight and quality-control leads to wrongful convictions, more crime, disrespect for the law, and sometimes even official corruption. At a minimum, we need more data on and better oversight of this important public policy.Read Natapoff’s full written testimony (PDF) or an abstract of her January article from the University of Cincinnati Law Review: “Snitching: The Institutional and Communal Consequences”
Read testimony of other witnesses at today’s hearing.
Read a blog post about today’s hearing on the Texas criminal justice blog Grits for Breakfast.
Read more about how snitches and informants can contribute to wrongful convictions in our Understand the Causes section.
Tags: Informants/Snitches