I’ve just finished Unfair: The New Science of Criminal Justice by Drexel University law professor Adam Benafordo. The reviews I’ve seen online have been positive. For example, the Boston Globe opines that the book “succinctly and persuasively recounts cutting-edge research testifying to the faulty and inaccurate procedures that underpin virtually all aspects of our criminal justice system.” And the book has attracted enough attention for Professor Benafordo to be interviewed on NPR’s hit show Fresh Air. This post briefly summarizes the book and then offers a few thoughts about it. Summary. The book begins by describing the trial of two alleged heretics in 1114 by throwing them in water to see whether they floated or sank. The author observes that this system was flawed because “the mechanism of deciding guilt was not grounded in fact.” He then asserts that “our descendants will be no less surprised by the routine and systematic unfairness we tolerate today than we are by our ancestors’ trials by ordeal.” The remainder of the book explores some of the ways in which Professor Benafordo believes that the current American criminal justice system is unfair, with the assistance of topical anecdotes and frequent references to social science research studies. The style is reminiscent of Malcolm Gladwell’s – Professor Benafordo comes across as a smart guy trying to make current criminal justice research digestible to the hoi polloi. Among the problems he identifies are: the possibility that an officer may make a snap judgment about a crime or a [...]
Faculty Coordinators
