Exoneree Engagement in Policy Reform Work

• Author: Ashley Werry,Zieva Dauber Konvisser
• Published date: 01 February 2017
• Date: 01 February 2017
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/1043986216673010
• Subject Matter: Articles

Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice

2017, Vol. 33(1) 43 –60

© The Author(s) 2016

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DOI: 10.1177/1043986216673010

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Article

Exoneree Engagement in

Policy Reform Work: An

Exploratory Study of the

Innocence Movement Policy

Reform Process

Zieva Dauber Konvisser1 and Ashley Werry1

Abstract

Through a lens of resilience and growth alongside continuing distress, this exploratory

research study examines a convenience sample of exonerees and innocence

movement personnel who are engaged in the policy reform process to understand

how exoneree involvement may change exonerees themselves, the innocence

movement, and possibly the criminal justice system. Data were collected through pre-

questionnaires and semi-structured interviews, supplemented with archival material,

and analyzed using a narrative approach. Findings emphasize both the personal and

broader societal value of exoneree engagement in educating, generating awareness,

and advocating about wrongful conviction and the power of having the human voice

and face in front of legislators, the public, and the media—vividly portraying that “if

they can do it to me, they can do it to anybody.” Findings also caution to be sensitive

to where individuals may be in their lives and to honor their choices to engage or not.

Keywords

exonerees, innocence movement, policy reform, resilience

Background

Significant wrongful conviction rates sparked the rise of the innocence movement,

which initiated many criminal justice system reforms that have begun to transform crim-

inal investigation, forensic science, prosecution, defense, and adjudication. Knowledge

1Criminal Justice Department, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI, USA

Corresponding Author:

Zieva Dauber Konvisser, Criminal Justice Department, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI 48202, USA.

Email: zkonvisser@comcast.net

673010CCJXXX10.1177/1043986216673010Journal of Contemporary Criminal JusticeKonvisser and Werry

research-article2016

44 Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice 33(1)

about wrongful conviction sources and reforms are supported by ample research (see

generally, Garrett, 2011; Gould, Carrano, Leo, & Young, 2013; Gould & Leo, 2010;

Innocence Project, n.d.-a; International Association of Chiefs of Police [IACP], 2013;

National Research Council, 2009, 2014; Norris, Bonventre, Redlich, & Acker, 2011; D.

Simon, 2012; Zalman & Carrano, 2014). Little research examines the more scientifically

oriented study of policy process by which innocence policy reforms have been enacted

or adopted to achieve substantive justice or the role and effectiveness of the people

involved in achieving these changes. (However, see Baumgartner, De Boef, & Boydstun,

2008, which studied the effect of news media on innocence policy; for archival scholar-

ship on the innocence policy process, see Marion & Zalman, 2014.)

Numerous innocence reforms have occurred as a result of activity by innocence

organizations, many of which are members of the Innocence Network (the Innocence

Network, n.d.-a), which began with the establishment of the Innocence Project

(Innocence Project, n.d.-a). These organizations include independent nonprofits, orga-

nizations affiliated with law schools or other educational institutions, units of public

defender offices, and pro bono sections of law firms. Many engage in reform activities

to redress the causes of wrongful conviction and prevent further injustice, in addition to

their other goals of providing pro bono legal services in cases of actual innocence, pro-

viding exoneree reentry services, and providing clinical education for law students.

Significantly for this research, some innocence organizations may be led or staffed

by exonerees—just one group of many stakeholders in innocence reform policy devel-

opment. The traumas and dissonance that exonerees have experienced compel some of

them to seek out opportunities to understand and overcome those experiences. Having

been violated by the justice system, all exonerees understand its flaws and some wish

to take action to remediate the injustices they have suffered, as well as find meaning in

their experiences (see, for example, Campbell & Denov, 2004; Clow, Leach, &

Ricciardelli, 2012; Grounds, 2004, 2005; Haney, 2002, 2008; Innocence Project, 2010;

R. I. Simon, 1993; Vollen & Eggers, 2005; Weigand, 2008; Westervelt & Cook, 2007,

2008, 2009, 2012; Konvisser, 2012). The innocence movement (that helped exonerate

many) provides venues for exonerees to channel their energies to correct injustices in

the system through participation and activism. In the process, some of these victims of

the criminal justice system grow organically into effective new leaders and advocates

for criminal justice reform (Konvisser, 2012; Weigand, 2008).

Such involvement by exonerees in policy work is aligned with an important turn to

policy process concerns now being advanced by the Justice Department and leading

research organizations to include ex-offenders in policy work (Council of State

Governments Justice Center, n.d.; LaVigne et al., 2014).

Theoretical Frame, Research Goals, and Broader Impacts

The research goals of this study draw on theories of resilience and posttraumatic

growth that focus on the possibility of positive psychological outcomes and wellness

alongside continuing distress as a result of the struggle with a highly challenging life

circumstance (Frankl, 2006; Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2004) and seek to understand how