Review: Unfair: The New Science of Criminal Injustice

Unfair: The New Science of Criminal Injustice by Adam Benforado
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Benforado explores the criminal justice system from the vantage point of what modern science has shown us about the human nature and contrasts that sharply with a criminal justice system that was formed out at a time when there was very little scientific evidence for its assumptions (the 18th and 19th century). His ongoing commentary is that 1000 years from now, people will our sense of justice as archaic as we now judge how justice was dealt with 1000 years ago. Though we have our beliefs that are grounded in "common sense", they are rarely grounded in what scientific evidence has showed us. Therefore, Benforado moves through each aspect of the criminal justice system from identifying (or mis-identifying) perpetrators to arrest investigations to the courtroom and to the prison system, showing the systematic failures of the who process. It's an essential reading for anyone looking to learn more about the criminal justice system in the modern United States.

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