Incarceration without Conviction by Mikaela Rabinowitz

Author:Mikaela Rabinowitz [Rabinowitz, Mikaela]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781000391473
Barnesnoble:
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Published: 2021-07-14T00:00:00+00:00

Presumption of Innocence

Unsurprisingly, neither Calvin nor Aaron perceived a presumption of innocence during the course of his detention. Similar to the individuals discussed in Chapter 2, both Calvin and Aaron noted that they were treated as if guilty from the moment they were arrested. As Aaron recalled, despite knowing that he had done nothing wrong, the way he was treated at the point of arrest convinced him that he would be found guilty. “It was like, the officers, as I was being arrested, one of the officers was telling me what the charges was, how much time that it carries. I’m like man, that’s where I’m going to be.” Calvin concurred: “I guess as soon as you get arrested all of your rights are gone out the door.” Bringing up a similar point later in our interview, Calvin again pointed to the experience of the criminal justice system and the actions of the criminal justice system actors as demonstrating their presumption of his guilt: “Just being in the County [jail], the way they treat you like you already convicted. Like they already got your clothes ready for you to go down [to the penitentiary].”

Similar to the individuals in Chapter 2 who ultimately did plead guilty, for the individuals discussed in this chapter—both legally and factually innocent—it is a cumulative series of encounters with criminal justice processes that cements the realization that they are presumed guilty. Notwithstanding the Supreme Court’s determination of the presumption of innocence as a procedural directive regarding the treatment of defendants at trial, their experiences and those of other individuals who are never convicted belie this axiom as it is more colloquially understood. Moreover, the fact that the vast majority of defendants never go to trial underscores the disjuncture between the Supreme Court’s interpretation of the presumption of innocence and defendants’ experience thereof. As discussed below, the experiences of individuals charged with two types of crimes particularly exemplify this contradiction: drug possession and domestic violence.

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