Justice demands for convictions to be Correct!

The Legal Beagle attended a virtual townhall meeting several months ago hosted by Dr William Arnold, the Director of Tennessee Department of Workforce and Development's Reentry Program, and Sonny Eaton, the head attorney over the Nashville Conviction Review Unit.

The host and attendees discussed the need for similar units throughout Tennessee. Everyone agreed, that when mistakes happen, and innocent people end up incarcerated, there needs to be Court procedures and a unit within every District Attorney Office in the state to correct such.?

The Tennessee Innocence Project, Nashville’s Conviction Review Unit, and other state organizations are using their influence to encourage District Attorney Offices and Courts across the state to address wrongful convictions.

Sonny Eaten said, the strength of our criminal justice system depends on its accuracy — its ability to convict the guilty and to clear the innocent. But we know that wrongful convictions happen. Identifying and understanding the causes of wrongful convictions is critical to maintaining the integrity of our justice system.

The meeting concluded with Sonny Eaten making a very profound statement that summed everything up in one sentence: "Justice demands for convictions to be correct".

(Credits: Thanks to both Dr. William Arnold and Assistant D.A. Sonny Eaten for taking time out of their busy schedule to address this important issue.)