False Justice: Eight Myths That Convict the Innocent
“[False Justice is] an important book, written in straight-forward, unadorned prose, that isdeserving of a national audience.” —Cleveland Plain Dealer“False Justice is a compelling and important read for anyone concerned with the criminal justice system or perhaps public policy issues in general.”—Toledo Blade“The law enforcement personage who recognizes the problem of false convictions is a rare and refreshing breed…[i]n my years of research, I have heard only a few prosecutors acknowledge the breadth and depth of the problem. In his new bookFalse Justice: Eight Myths That Convict the Innocent(January, Kaplan), Petro outdoes them all.” —Steve Weinberg, author of Taking on the Trust“False Justice is a fascinating and disturbing explanation of how easily our criminal justice system can convict the innocent and the endless challenges involved in finding true justice.”      —Anchora Magazine“Jim Petro reveals in False Justice how the lessons of DNA analysis of crime scene evidence changed his views on criminal justice. Petro became motivated not only to represent the wrongfully convicted but also to change the system. This former prosecutor and state attorney general is an important voice for criminal justice reform.” —Barry Scheck, Co-founder and Co-director, the Innocence Project, The Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University“The former attorney general of Ohio may be an unusual advocate for overturning wrongful convictions, but he makes a well-reasoned and articulate argument for rethinking the American justice system, where innocent people can be convicted, then exonerated years later by post-conviction DNA testing.”  —Publishers Weekly“False Justice is an important book, coming as it does from a former attorney general of Ohio and a conservative Republican.” —Rob Warden, Executive Director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions, Northwestern School of Law“For community groups that discuss books together and in any criminology or criminal justice class, the Petros' book is a rare gem in critical writing about criminal justice. Spread the word.” —Hal Pepinsky, Professor Emeritus, Criminal Justice, Indiana University“Compelling in its content and engagingly written, False Justice draws upon the lived experience of the first state attorney general to intervene on behalf of a wrongfully convicted prisoner. With a growing awareness of the nature and magnitude of the errors made by our criminal justice system, the Petros take the reader inside a number of actual cases, summarize extensive research on the causes and consequences of wrongful conviction, and expose eight common myths that inspire false confidence in our system of justice and undermine our efforts at reform.”   —C. Ronald Huff, Ph.D., Past-President, American Society of Criminology and co-author, Convicted but Innocent“When most law-enforcement officials are confronted with an inmate's claim of innocence, they do everything they can to dispute it. Not Jim Petro. When the former Ohio attorney general encountered such a case he spurred the innocent inmate's release, explored how wrongful convictions occur and pushed for reforms. False Justice is the compelling story of his pursuit of true justice. “ —Martin D. Yant, author of Presumed Guilty and Private Invesigator“The compelling narrative of individual cases highlights the reasons that the system sometimes gets it wrong. Whether it be because of faulty identification, false informant testimony, or other shortcoming, this book presents in very readable format why innocent people get convicted. In addition the book highlights how small and often inexpensive policy reforms can go a long way to addressing the shortcomings.” —Robert M. Bloom, Professor at Boston College Law Schoo