Given the pressing societal need to punish criminal behavior and the solemn nature of depriving people of their liberty and even life, one would expect that the accuracy of these fateful determinations would be the paramount goal of the criminal justice process. Yet, perplexingly, the criminal justice system sidelines the accuracy of its somber task in favor of a slew of other goals, interests and constraints, which are borne primarily by bureaucratic convenience and system defensiveness.
Notwithstanding occasional pronouncements by the Supreme Court touting the importance of finding the truth, that goal is effectively eclipsed by the Court’s narrowly conceived procedural regime. To a large extent, the procedures themselves have become the ultimate goal of the process, with fairness serving as its guiding principle. Yet, the prevailing conception of fairness is reduced to ensuring that the playing field is roughly level, with little regard to who deserves to prevail.
This program will critically examine the prevailing jurisprudential framework and advocate for reforms that seek to prioritize accuracy as the primary goal of the investigative and adjudicative processes, and thus guide the system towards more just and effective outcomes.