Stolen Happiness

The wrongful arrest and conviction of Fernando Bermudez demonstrates the American criminal justice system being forced to correct itself, despite public faith in jury trials, because Mr. Bermudez fought to exonerate himself after losing ten appeals. Mr. Bermudez’s essay entails his over eighteen-yea...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Fernando Bermudez
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Columbia University Libraries 2013-03-01
Series:Columbia Journal of Race and Law
Online Access:https://journals.library.columbia.edu/index.php/cjrl/article/view/2287
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author Fernando Bermudez
author_facet Fernando Bermudez
author_sort Fernando Bermudez
collection DOAJ
description The wrongful arrest and conviction of Fernando Bermudez demonstrates the American criminal justice system being forced to correct itself, despite public faith in jury trials, because Mr. Bermudez fought to exonerate himself after losing ten appeals. Mr. Bermudez’s essay entails his over eighteen-year wrongful incarceration in New York until proven “actually innocent” in 2009. This essay urges reform and accountability of mistaken eyewitness identification, perjured testimony, and police and prosecutorial misconduct as factors that began Mr. Bermudez’s ordeal in 1991. In particular, this essay examines how race, rushed judgment, and profit may have contributed to Mr. Bermudez’s ordeal while aiming to prevent the overall public safety and human rights problem of the innocent in prison and mass incarceration.
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spelling doaj.art-c910e1f7c1264fb6accd808cba80e21a2022-12-22T02:47:55ZengColumbia University LibrariesColumbia Journal of Race and Law2155-24012013-03-013210.7916/cjrl.v3i2.2287Stolen HappinessFernando BermudezThe wrongful arrest and conviction of Fernando Bermudez demonstrates the American criminal justice system being forced to correct itself, despite public faith in jury trials, because Mr. Bermudez fought to exonerate himself after losing ten appeals. Mr. Bermudez’s essay entails his over eighteen-year wrongful incarceration in New York until proven “actually innocent” in 2009. This essay urges reform and accountability of mistaken eyewitness identification, perjured testimony, and police and prosecutorial misconduct as factors that began Mr. Bermudez’s ordeal in 1991. In particular, this essay examines how race, rushed judgment, and profit may have contributed to Mr. Bermudez’s ordeal while aiming to prevent the overall public safety and human rights problem of the innocent in prison and mass incarceration.https://journals.library.columbia.edu/index.php/cjrl/article/view/2287
spellingShingle Fernando Bermudez
Stolen Happiness
Columbia Journal of Race and Law
title Stolen Happiness
title_full Stolen Happiness
title_fullStr Stolen Happiness
title_full_unstemmed Stolen Happiness
title_short Stolen Happiness
title_sort stolen happiness
url https://journals.library.columbia.edu/index.php/cjrl/article/view/2287
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