Guilty. It's a word that has sent about a hundred thousand people to prison for crimes they were accused of even though they didn't commit them. Now the question the United States must ask itself is: How could something like this happen? Well, truth be told, the reason these people go to prison even though they didn't commit the crimes they were accused of is due to forensic errors caused by using faulty methods. Unfortunately, errors and flawed methods in studying crime scenes and the people involved in them have been occurring for centuries. In fact, in the dark ages, prisoners were made to hold a hot iron and if it hurt, they were considered liars. Say no to plagiarism. Get a Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the Original EssayThis problem will harm us in the long run. Forensic problems can not just send innocent people to prison, but they can also deprive innocent people of their liberty and safety. However, there may be a solution to prevent the number of innocent people incarcerated from increasing further and to guarantee the freedom and safety of those who are in danger - everyone. Forensic errors can be reduced by performing more frequent checks on the accuracy of our forensic laboratory, eliminating the use of eyewitness reports and their practice, stopping the use of a polygraph machine on suspects and stopping the use of a polygraph machine on suspects. , we can help protect innocent people from being wrongly convicted of a crime they did not commit. For starters, the nation's forensic laboratories are essential to science, however, some simply don't do their jobs properly. Today, everyone makes mistakes, but ninety percent of hair microscopic analyzes done by the FBI contained errors in cases where they testified for the prosecution. With help from the Innocence Project, the Department of Justice and the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, errors made by FBI analysts in their testimony and lab reports were corrected. To be more specific, out of 342 cases reviewed, 268 of them involved hair evidence used against the accused. Of these 268 cases reviewed, 257, or ninety-six percent, involved false or erroneous testimony that leaned toward prosecution. Unfortunately, this resulted in the deaths of people who were not even guilty of the crime for which they were arrested, as the FBI report states: "The defendants in at least 35 of these cases were sentenced to death and errors were identified in thirty-three (ninety-four) cases. percent) of these cases. Nine of these defendants have already been executed and five died of other causes while on death row. » Nevertheless, inadequate examinations of testimony and laboratory reports are not the only flaw in forensic science practices. Now that the National Forensic Science Unit problem has been resolved, it is now time to address the fact that we are using an unreliable system to identify suspects through eyewitness reports. When a criminal event occurs, the police go looking for people nearby who heard, saw or were victims of this event. When this happens, they ask about their appearance,sounds of their voice, the appearance of their posture and much more to help them track down their suspect(s). However, as most people know, a human being's memory is very unreliable. Yet detectives and specialists use and trust human memory to give us very specific or very close details of the suspect, even after all the confusion that has occurred in the blur of the moment. For example, imagine that you are in a park when a strange man approaches you, he coughs while trying to ask you where the main fountain of the park is, because you have a map. You don't look at him much and as you open your bag to get your card, he grabs it and runs away and you still can't catch a glimpse of his face. However, the police are now questioning you and asking: "What did he look like?" We humans tend to jump to conclusions and so will most likely say, "It was an older but physically fit man," because he was coughing, then snatched your bag and rushed out. of the scene. And that's why innocent people are put behind bars without even committing the crime. Again, there is another method used by our forensic units in America that puts people behind bars without much good evidence. Another common way for people to falsely believe that someone committed a crime they did not commit is through the polygraph. Think about it, what do people think of when they think of detecting the truth? Most people would think of the polygraph because of its accuracy, but that's not entirely accurate. In fact, the history of the polygraph is filled with people being able to pass the test even though they actually committed the crime and vice versa. In fact, George Maschke, a former U.S. Army intelligence officer and current co-founder of AntiPolygraph.Org, says that all you have to do to defeat the polygraph is "understand how to recognize control issues and increase reactions to these with techniques such as biting the side of your tongue or solving a math equation in your head. "Now, with that being said, many might ask, how is this going to affect me? To answer this question honestly, it affects you greatly. Think about the freedom that everyone has right now. This is precisely what's at stake. With these flawed methods used to track down criminals, people are going to prison for heinous crimes they didn't commit. Then you not only have to pay a huge amount of time for someone's crime. another, but you also lose many luxuries that many take for granted, like the right to vote, the freedom to own a gun, etc. What if you had to go to prison for thirty years to life for murder? what you didn't do? What would happen to life as you know it? Would you lose your children, be fired from the great job you had, or would everyone stare at you? differently when you go to a job interview? Now, what happens if you can't own a gun because you're a convicted felon? Oh yes ! Security! Something we all hold at stake. Whether it's our property, our families or ourselves, we all care about their safety, some care more about life than property and others are quite the opposite. What if I told you that they are both equally threatened? It's not a joke. Your assets are your books, your property and your money and they are at risk. If you go to prison, the court can order that your assets be used to pay costs, and if you have enoughmoney for this, everything is fine, but what about later? What happens when you can't pay the taxes owed to keep your property? Well, the bank will take it due to foreclosure. What happens to household affairs? They also take them to cover closing costs and property maintenance, and that's just the assets! What happened once he was released from prison and reintegrated into society? Well, if you live in a rough part of town, you may need a gun to protect yourself and others, but wait, you can't get one. Criminals are not legally allowed to obtain a firearm anywhere in the United States, and for good reason. So what happens if you're robbed? You will most likely back down and lose all your important items and money, or you will get into a fight and most likely (if you follow the law) get shot because you are fighting over a gun with your bare hands. But this can only be done if we allow the jury and the American citizens to be misled by flawed methods that are presented in court and can be stopped. Now, no doubt, some or many of you believe that this could not happen to you because you are an upstanding citizen. However, the statistics are largely against them if they are suspected of a crime they did not commit unless the real person confesses or makes a mistake when speaking. In fact, eyewitness reports have an error rate of seventy-one percent, false or misleading testimony from forensic scientists occurs twenty-one percent of the time, and errors in forensic testing occur occur sixty-three percent of the time (Koehler, 1). That said, once you are placed as a suspect through eyewitness reports and then through the forensic cycle including DNA testing, polygraph examinations, and shoe print examinations, it is likely that the analyst says it must have been you or exaggerates his results. twenty-seven percent in favor of prosecuting, which seems low, but with all the other errors included, you will most likely be charged with this crime. However, by performing more forensic laboratory evaluations, removing the use of eyewitness reports, and stopping the use of the polygraph machine, these chances will be zero and your safety and blessings of freedom will still be safe, but some disagree and wish to preserve eyewitness reports and use of the polygraph machine. As we read previously, some agree that eyewitness reports are useful, such as Connect US which, on its pros and cons debate site, states the following: "When testimony is obtained and reported correctly after the event takes place, the witness's memory is still fresh, meaning there is a greater chance that their account of the incident will still be vivid in their mind. This makes his testimony more reliable. "Statistics would beg to differ. The human mind is complex and perfect recall is something we simply cannot do (even though many claim to be able to do it). That being said, we do not We simply could not rely on human memory to give an accurate description of the criminal, especially in larger cities where the margin for error is even greater. However, many also support the use. of the polygraph (American Polygraph Association) stands next to the polygraph as they state on their website: “The APA believes.