PRESS RELEASE
Contact: Gina Lauterio
Telephone: 301-801-0608
Email: glauterio@prosecutorintegrity.org
CPI Launches New Program to Curb Wrongful Convictions of Sexual Assault:
‘Black men are being convicted of sex crimes in alarming numbers’
WASHINGTON / June 1, 2016 – Today the Center for Prosecutor Integrity is launching a new initiative designed to address the over-criminalization of sexual conduct and to end wrongful convictions of sexual assault (1). The new program comes on the heels of a recent report on sex offender registries that concludes, “Black men are being convicted of sex crimes in alarming numbers.” (2)
The Wrongful Convictions of Sexual Assault Program features informational resources for attorneys, researchers, policymakers, and concerned citizens. The resources address Prosecutorial Misconduct in Sex Crime Cases (3) and the American Law Institute Model Penal Code (4), and features an Exoneree Honor Roll that lists the names of hundreds of persons exonerated of sexual assault (5). The online resource also provides a compilation of law review articles, empirical research studies, and other resources (6).
The Wrongful Convictions of Sexual Assault Program initially is pursuing three policy development initiatives.
The first effort is seeking to curb the expansion of “victim-centered investigations,” in which criminal investigators are instructed to cede “control of the process back to the victim” and are told that the complainant has a “right to request certain investigative steps not be conducted.” (7)
The second is directed to Campus Sexual Assault, where due process protections are often lacking for students accused of sexual assault (8).
The third initiative, the Military Justice Project, is addressing the erosion of due process protections for military service members accused of sexual assault (9).
The CPI White Paper, Wrongful Convictions of Sexual Assault, draws parallels between the treatment of Black men accused of rape during the infamous Jim Crow period, and the adjudication of sexual assault cases in the current era (10).
Citations:
(1) https://www.prosecutorintegrity.org/sa/
(3) https://www.prosecutorintegrity.org/registry/graph/sex-crimes/
(4) https://www.prosecutorintegrity.org/sa/ali/
(5) https://www.prosecutorintegrity.org/sa/exonerees/
(6) https://www.prosecutorintegrity.org/sa/resources/
(7) https://www.prosecutorintegrity.org/sa/investigations/
(8) http://www.saveservices.org/sexual-assault/
(9) https://www.prosecutorintegrity.org/sa/mjp/
The Center for Prosecutor Integrity is working to strengthen prosecutorial ethics, curb over-criminalization, and bring an end to wrongful convictions: www.prosecutorintegrity.org