Conflict of Interest: A Guide to the Vast and Varying Aspects of Criminal Justice

In an attempt at broadening my knowledge of the online world, I explored the blogosphere this week, hunting for resources to assist and expand my understanding of forensics, psychology and the criminal justice system. With the help of the Webby and IMSA criteria, I have compiled 20 diverse websites with explorations into this particular study, all of which are now located in my Linkroll. In direct correlation with my previous posts, the first of these websites is The Innocence Project, which is a personal favorite of mine and is seen to the right. Beyond its visual appealing interface, this website provides a plethora of useful information, not only in terms of current cases, but also in identifying the flaws in the criminal justice system and possible reforms. The combination of strong content and ease of use makes this website a powerful source. Similarly, The Justice Project provides an analysis of exonerations and false convictions as they discuss possibilities for fixing the flaws in the system. Related to my previous post on False Convictions is the American Psychological Association website on Law & Psychology, which outlines current psycholegal news and provides the code of ethics for Psychologists; along the same lines, the American Legal Ethics Library provides an in-depth collection of legal and ethical codes for numerous states and the ACS Blog has a strong focus on the law and legislation surrounding the criminal justice system wrapped up in a neat, attractive interface. Additionally, the Center on Wrongful Convictions explores the cases of exonerated individuals. Also, it identifies the issues behind wrongful convictions, such as the causes and remedies, the death penalty, and what happens to individuals after their exoneration. This exploration provides a strong resource into the problems and specific cases where see the dominance and relevance of such issues.

For a more news-based source, ABC News provides a neatly-organized, engaging and interactive page. Aside from having short video clips and images, it provides news articles separated by topic, allowing for easy access to the article of your choice. Alltop.com also provides a collaboration of different websites, including recent posts and a short excerpt of the article when hovering over the title. The website is less than visually stimulating, with an overwhelming amount of text, however, its usefulness, particularly in the article excerpts, compensates. AlterNet.org (referenced in my post in Eyewitness Misidentification) and the ABA Journal are both online magazines with easy-to-use interfaces, wide ranges of up-to-date articles and very reliable and scholarly sources. Psychology and Crime News provides great analysis and links to multitudes of outside sources, with the downfall of many links failing to provide full sources to the reader. Many links lead only to abstracts of certain articles and the overall appearance of the website is rather dull and fails to engage the reader visually. Also somewhat news related is that of wrongful-convictions, a blog which acts more as a news page in presenting the cases of those wrongfully convicted in the United States.

Entering into the genre of blogs, Grits for Breakfast proves to be the most highly acclaimed and utilized by other bloggers. In addition to being well-maintained and highly informative, it provides a strong opinion while retaining professionalism in language and tone. Equally as useful and renowned would be Underdog Blog, as seen to the left. This blog provides a very light and personable style while at the same time being very informational and voicing a strong opinion. Its professionalism has gained this blog a large fanbase among others in the blogosphere. Similarly, Forensic News Blog presents interesting topics in the field of forensics but does so in a very casual and intriguing fashion. Although lighthearted, it still remains informative and introduces the reader to many unknown facts and facets of forensics. Also, the Eyewitness Identification Reform Blog demonstrated cases dealing with, obviously, eyewitness identification. However, despite their informative blogs and clean interface, their blog lacked significant and recent updates.

The death penalty was a prevalent issue for many blogs, with Capital Defense Weekly, Abolish the Death Penalty, Lethal Injection, and Death Penalty Issues stemming from the controversial topic. In particular, Abolish the Death Penalty portrayed a strong opinion which, although some may say it is too biased, provides a strong counterpoint for any conflicting blog site or webpage. The extensive passion of the blog would make for an excellent comparison and will undoubtedly be well-researched. Lethal Injection gives a strong defense to specific cases which may result in lethal injection. Although this blog pulls from relevant news sources, its methods of doing so allow for strange formatting and differing fonts and sizes, giving the appearance an unprofessional and sloppy look. Likewise, Death Penalty Issues provides the reader with a massive amount of different resources and is an excellent source, not only for death penalty cases, but also for history, facts and general information. However, its downfall is in the rather poor formatting. The website links become slightly confusing and are rather messy on this slightly shocking complicated interface. Finally, Capital Defense Weekly introduces different cases and references relevant articles, with an interesting sidebar listing out all the upcoming capital defense cases and exonerations. As a whole, this broad range of websites has provided not only the informational aspects but also the opinionated aspects of the psychosocial study behind criminal justice and the legal system.