Former Canadian Federal Prisoners' views of wrongful conviction: experiences, interpretations, and governmentality.

Wrongful convictions continue to occur, with over 350 post-conviction DNA exonerations in the United States, and a collection of over 2500 known cases of presumed factual innocence at the National Registry of Exonerations. Conversation with exonerees suggest that at least some innocent individuals have met other wrongfully convicted prisoners while incarcerated. In the current study, we explored formerly incarcerated men's views of wrongful conviction through the lens of governmentality. Using thematic analysis of interview transcripts with over 50 formerly incarcerated Canadian men on supervised release, we reveal how these released men perceive wrongful conviction, and how their understandings are impacted and shaped by the power dynamics underpinning their social interactions and experiences within the criminal justice system. Two main themes emerged in releasees perceptions of wrongful conviction: (1) that factually innocent people were wrongfully convicted of crimes—whether those crimes occurred prior to, or during, incarceration, and (2) the perceived fairness of legal processes led some individuals to view convictions of even factually guilty individuals to also warrant the label of wrongful conviction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]