Book Review: Wrongful Death Sentences: Rethinking Justice in Capital Cases

DOI10.1177/0734016810394117
AuthorTalia Roitberg Harmon
Published date01 March 2012
Date01 March 2012
Subject MatterBook Reviews
The three chapters (14, 15, and 16) of Part four discuss various social, ethical, and security issues
related to computer use. These include protecting children while using Internet, protecting one’s
identity, and online harassment and stalking. And finally, the two chapters (17 and 18) of Part five
discuss methods of computer hacking and cyber-criminal communication. Chapter 17 provides
information regarding common hacking techniques and how to prevent being the victim of hacking.
Chapter 18 discusses the various methods through which computer criminals communicate and hide
their communication. The latter includes encryption, steganography, and leet (the cyberlanguage of
hackers and online gamers).
Overall, Computer Crime, Investigation, and the Law is meant to be a ‘‘practical’’book, probably
intended for use as a community college textbook. As such, it is structured similar to an owners’
manual, without any critical or theoretical spirit. It certainly does not make any particular contribu-
tion to theories of forensic investigation, which is the area immediately related to some parts of the
book. Given its practical intent, and its instructional introductory nature, the book neither lives a lot
out nor much open to critical analysis. Furthermore, those outside the United States, with the excep-
tion of Canadians maybe, may have some difficulty in understanding some of the legal terms or law
enforcement–related procedures mentioned in the book. Having said these, I recommend it as an
interesting, introductory book for anyone interested in the emerging and highly complicated fields
of computer crime, Internet law, and cyber law enforcement.
C. Burnett
Wrongful Death Sentences: Rethinking Justice in Capital Cases. London, England: Lynne Rienner Publishers Inc.,
2010. ix, 188 pp. $52.50. ISBN 978-1-58826-716-0
Reviewed by: Talia Roitberg Harmon, Niagara University, Lewiston, New York
DOI: 10.1177/0734016810394117
The issue of wrongful convictions in capital and noncapital cases has been receiving increased
nationwide media attention. Technological advances, particularly in the area of DNA, have
increased the ability to identify wrongful convictions. Moreover, innocence projects, dedicated to
pursuing exonerations for the wrongfully convicted in capital and noncapital cases, are currently
in operation in more than 35 universities.
Wrongful Death Sentences: Rethinking Justice in Capital Cases by Cathleen Burnett marks an
interesting and controversial contribution to the recent literature on wrongful convictions. This
thought-provoking book provides a reconceptualization and broadening of the concept of innocence
in capital cases. The main goal of the book is to widen the concept of innocence to include three
main categories: actual, factual, and legal innocence. She uses case studies of former death row
inmates from Missouri to illustrate these different types of innocence.
Burnett begins in Chapter 1 with an overview of innocence, describes the organization of the
book, and makes an argument for expanding the definition of innocence in capital cases. She sug-
gests that ‘‘innocence is a much broader concept than [is] usually understood’’(p. 1). She provides a
new framework to include more than the actually innocent (those who were uninvolved in the
crime). She argues that factual and legal innocence should be included in a discussion of innocence.
Factual innocence involves cases where the defendant was an accomplice but not the actual killer.
Legal innocence refers to cases where the defendants committed the killing but were justified in so
doing or were excused from criminal responsibility. She highlights two types of legal innocence:
self-defense and insanity. Once again, Burnett’s main theme is that the public holds a simplistic view
of innocence and in reality innocence is a much more complex term. She suggests that her book is
important for professionals as well as the public in order to expand their view of wrongful
Book Reviews 133

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT