People In Prison Are Not Always Criminals

Since 1973, over 167 people who were on death row have been determined to be not guilty. That is only people in the 30 states plus the federal government and military that have people on death row. How many other innocents are on death row as well as in the general current or former prison population is unknown. In addition to this are people who had to pay fines or other costs yet were innocent. 

How does this happen? The number one reason is prosecutorial misconduct. Yep, bad lawyers. 

The framers of the U.S. Constitution put citizen participation at the very heart of our criminal justice system in the form of jury trials. With coercive plea bargaining, prosecutors have ripped that heart right out of that system and made sure that ordinary citizens have almost nothing to do with the administration of criminal justice in America.