Project and content management for Contemporary Authors volumes
WORK TITLE: Exonerated
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://rjnorris.com/
CITY:
STATE:
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
https://gjs.appstate.edu/directory/dr-robert-norris
RESEARCHER NOTES:
LC control no.: n 2014018068
LCCN Permalink: https://lccn.loc.gov/n2014018068
HEADING: Norris, Robert J.
000 01566cz a2200229n 450
001 9518633
005 20171216073330.0
008 140403n| azannaabn |n aaa
010 __ |a n 2014018068
035 __ |a (OCoLC)oca09725582
040 __ |a DLC |b eng |e rda |c DLC |d InU
100 1_ |a Norris, Robert J.
370 __ |f Boone (N.C.) |2 naf
372 __ |a Criminal justice, Administration of |2 lcsh
374 __ |a College teachers |a Authors |2 lcsh
375 __ |a male
377 __ |a eng
670 __ |a Examining wrongful convictions, 2014: |b ECIP t.p. (Robert J. Norris) ECIP galley (University at Albany, State University of New York)
670 __ |a SUNY, University at Albany, School of Criminal Justice website, 15 December 2017 |b (Robert J. Norris, Ph.D. candidate; 2011 M.A., School of Criminal Justice, University of Albany, SUNY; B.A., Sociology, minor in history, UNC-Greensboro)
670 __ |a Linkedin, 15 December 2017 |b (Robert J. Norris, Assistant Professor, Appalachin State University (2015-present), Boone, North Carolina)
670 __ |a Appalachian State University profile page, 15 Deccember 2015 |b (Dr. Robert J. Norris; joined the Department of Government and Justice Studies in 2015; earned his B.A. in sociology with a history minor at UNC-Greensboro, and earned his M.A. and Ph.D. from the School of Criminal Justice at the University at Albany (SUNY); Education: Ph.D. (2015), School of Criminal Justice, University at Albany (SUNY), M.A. (2011), School of Criminal Justice, University at Albany (SUNY), B.A. (2009), Sociology (History minor), UNC-Greensboro)
953 __ |a xg08
PERSONAL
Male.
EDUCATION:University of North Carolina, Greensboro, B.A., 2009; University at Albany, M.A., 2011, Ph.D., 2015.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer and educator. Appalachian State University, Boone, NC, assistant professor; George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, assistant professor, 2018—.
AWARDS:Grants from organizations, including the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Justice.
WRITINGS
Contributor of articles to publications, including Criminal Justice Policy Review, Justice Quarterly, Albany Law Review, Journal of Experimental Criminology, and Criminology.
SIDELIGHTS
Robert J. Norris is a writer and educator. He holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina, Greensboro, as well as a master’s degree and Ph.D. from the University at Albany. Norris has served as an assistant professor at Appalachian State University. He has also taught at George Mason University.
Examining Wrongful Convictions
Norris collaborated with Alison D. Redlich, James R. Acker, and Catherine L. Bonventre to edit the 2014 volume, Examining Wrongful Convictions: Stepping Back, Moving Forward. The book includes essays by contributors on the topics related to wrongful convictions, including sociology, law, forensic science, and psychology. Contributors emphasize the importance of understanding the history surrounding wrongful convictions before attempting to make pronouncements on its future. They suggest that the lack of understanding of its history has led to mistakes by contemporary scholars. The contributors argue that those involved in the study of wrongful convictions should follow an interdisciplinary approach, which will help to prevent devastating mistakes.
Leona Deborah Jochnowitz offered a favorable assessment of Examining Wrongful Convictions. Jochnowitz noted that the book provided a “look at innocence research through a fresh lens.” Jochnowitz added: “The approach of Examining Wrongful Convictions: Stepping Back, Moving Forward helps to formulate a framework of knowledge that learns from the limitations of the past and creates a strong theoretical foundation for the future.”
Exonerated
In Exonerated: A History of the Innocence Movement, Norris again analyzes wrongful convictions. He discusses the beginnings of a movement to exonerate those who have been convicted of crimes they did not commit. Norris notes that the movement began with individual lawyers, who worked to exonerate specific clients. Later, groups began forming with the express purpose of helping to exonerate the wrongfully convicted. Among the groups Norris profiles are the Innocence Project, the Centurion Ministries, and the Northwestern Center on Wrongful Convictions. He describes some of the more notable cases the groups have taken on. Norris notes that advances in DNA technology have been a powerful tool in exonerating the wrongfully convicted. He explains that the innocence movement has ultimately spread throughout the world.
Reviewing Exonerated in U.S. Catholic, Elizabeth Lefebvre commented: “It is a useful resource for anyone interested in social justice, as the innocence movement relates to criminal justice, capital punishment, inequality, and racism.” “Norris … offers a straightforward, informative overview of the development of the innocence movement,” suggested a Kirkus Reviews critic. The same critic also called the book “a useful contribution to an important national conversation about crime and punishment.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Kirkus Reviews, April 1, 2017, review of Exonerated: A History of the Innocence Movement.
U.S. Catholic, September, 2017, Elizabeth Lefebvre, review of Exonerated, p. 41.
ONLINE
Appalachian State University Website, https://gjs.appstate.edu/ (April 10, 2018), author faculty profile.
Robert J. Norris Website, https://rjnorris.com/ (April 10, 2018).
SSRN, http://papers.ssrn.com/ (July 8, 2016), Leona Deborah Jochnowitz, review of Examining Wrongful Convictions: Stepping Back, Moving Forward.
Robert J. Norris is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Government and Justice Studies at Appalachian State University. He earned his PhD from the School of Criminal Justice at the University at Albany (SUNY). Dr. Norris has written extensively on issues related to wrongful convictions and the legal system. His research has appeared in journals such as Criminology, Justice Quarterly, and Criminal Justice Policy Review. He is the author of the upcoming Exonerated: A History of the Innocence Movement (NYU Press, 2017) and co-editor of Examining Wrongful Convictions: Stepping Back, Moving Forward (CAP, 2014).
BIO
RNorris photo
Robert J. Norris will join the Department of Criminology, Law, and Society at George Mason University in fall 2018. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Government and Justice Studies at Appalachian State University. He received his BA in sociology with a history minor at UNC-Greensoboro, and his MA and PhD from the School of Criminal Justice at the University at Albany (SUNY).
His research generally focuses on the social, cultural, and political dynamics of criminal justice reform and legal decision-making. More specifically, he examines issues related to wrongful convictions, social policy, public opinion, and criminal admissions (interrogations, confessions, and plea bargaining).
His recent book, Exonerated: A History of the Innocence Movement, provides the first in-depth history of the social movement around wrongful convictions and exonerations in the United States.
Advertisements
Dr. Robert J. Norris joined the Department of Government and Justice Studies in 2015. He earned his B.A. in sociology with a history minor at UNC-Greensboro, and earned his M.A. and Ph.D. from the School of Criminal Justice at the University at Albany (SUNY). His research and teaching areas include law and society, social change and policy reform, the legal system, and decision-making in criminal justice. Much of his research focuses specifically on wrongful convictions. Dr. Norris is the author of Exonerated: A History of the Innocence Movement (NYU Press, 2017) and co-editor of Examining Wrongful Convictions: Stepping Back, Moving Forward (Carolina Academic Press, 2014). He is also working on a new co-authored book expected to be released in 2018 entitled: When Justice Fails: Causes and Consequences of Wrongful Convictions (Carolina Academic Press). He was the co-PI on a grant funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Justice to organize a workshop on under-studied issues related to wrongful convictions. Other recent research interests include criminal admissions (interrogations, confessions, and plea bargaining), the death penalty, and laws targeting the homeless. His research has appeared in several scholarly journals, including Criminology, Justice Quarterly, Journal of Experimental Criminology, Criminal Justice Policy Review, and the Albany Law Review. Since joining Appalachian State, Dr. Norris has taught courses on the court system, criminal procedure, and wrongful convictions.
Areas of Expertise and Interest:
Social movements and policy reform
Legal process and decision-making
Wrongful convictions
Interrogations, confessions, and plea bargaining
Education:
Ph.D. (2015), School of Criminal Justice, University at Albany (SUNY)
M.A. (2011), School of Criminal Justice, University at Albany (SUNY)
B.A. (2009), Sociology (History minor), UNC-Greensboro
Courses:
The Court System (formerly Judicial Process)
Criminal Procedure
Innocence in the Criminal Justice System
Punishment and Corrections (Graduate)
Website: http://www.rjnorris.com
Title: Assistant Professor of Criminal Justice
Department: Department of Government and Justice Studies
Email address: Email me
Phone: (828) 262-6908
Fax: (828) 262-2947
Office address
351D Anne Belk Hall
Attachments
QUOTED: "It is a useful resource for anyone interested in social justice, as the
innocence movement relates to criminal justice, capital punishment, inequality, and racism."
3/24/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1521923185532 1/3
Print Marked Items
Exonerated
Elizabeth Lefebvre
U.S. Catholic.
82.9 (Sept. 2017): p41.
COPYRIGHT 2017 Claretian Publications
http://uscatholic.claretians.org
Full Text:
EXONERATED
By Robert J. Norris (NYU Press, 2017)
The recent popularity of the podcast Serial and the Netflix documentary Making a Murderer demonstrate
our cultural appetite for wrongful conviction stories. However, the history of the innocence movement is a
relatively short one. In Exonerated: A Brief and Dangerous Freedom, Robert J. Norris lays out the
foundation and growth of the movement that has seen more than 1,800 innocent people freed from jail in
the past 30 years.
Until recently, Norris explains, the idea of wrongful conviction was considered controversial, as there was
widespread belief that the U.S. justice system was infallible. The advent of DNA testing in 1989 was crucial
in changing that opinion. Norris outlines how DNA transformed from a prosecution tool to one that could
prove innocence. Then, as national innocence organizations began to form, networks began pursuing policy
changes to decrease the number of wrongful convictions.
While not the focus of the book, Norris does explore the mutually influential relationship between
innocence and the death penalty. Those working on wrongful conviction cases knew that capital cases
garnered the most public attention. And anti-death penalty advocates seized on innocence as the most
powerful argument against capital punishment.
Exonerated is not a faith-based book, but it is a useful resource for anyone interested in social justice, as the
innocence movement relates to criminal justice, capital punishment, inequality, and racism. By learning
how the innocence movement gained the power to change perceptions and change lives, we can understand
the power of coalition building to push for real justice.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
3/24/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1521923185532 2/3
Lefebvre, Elizabeth. "Exonerated." U.S. Catholic, Sept. 2017, p. 41. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A503641130/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=955aced1.
Accessed 24 Mar. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A503641130
QUOTED: "Norris ... offers a straightforward, informative overview of the development of the innocence movement."
"a useful contribution to an important national conversation about crime and punishment."
3/24/2018 General OneFile - Saved Articles
http://go.galegroup.com/ps/marklist.do?actionCmd=GET_MARK_LIST&userGroupName=schlager&inPS=true&prodId=ITOF&ts=1521923185532 3/3
Norris, Robert J.: EXONERATED
Kirkus Reviews.
(Apr. 1, 2017):
COPYRIGHT 2017 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Norris, Robert J. EXONERATED New York Univ. (Adult Nonfiction) $35.00 5, 16 ISBN: 978-1-4798-
8627-2
How efforts to exonerate wrongfully convicted prisoners have grown into an energized international
movement.In his debut book, Norris (Government and Justice Studies/Appalachian State Univ.) offers a
straightforward, informative overview of the development of the innocence movement, which began with a
few lawyers working for the releases of their innocent clients. He profiles several early activists and groups,
such as the Centurion Ministries, the Innocence Project, and the Northwestern Center on Wrongful
Convictions, highlighting some of the cases that drew their attention. Those cases involved prisoners whose
innocence was confirmed largely through DNA testing, which allowed for a breakthrough in arguing that
convictions be overturned. The lawyers focused not on problems of lawyer error or trial technicalities but
only on cases where innocent individuals were incarcerated and sometimes sentenced to death. By 2012,
those working in the movement had formed the Innocence Network, which grew to include 70 organizations
around the world. Based on interviews with lawyers, law professors, academics, and organization leaders,
Norris analyzes the work and impact of the movement, providing a solid departure point for future research.
Network organizations, he has discovered, receive nearly 20,000 requests yearly, from which they pursue
about one-quarter. The early focus on DNA has evolved into a wider scope: lawyers have found that
miscarriages of justice are caused by "eyewitness errors, false confessions, forensic misconduct,
prosecutorial and defense issues, jailhouse informants, and racism." Publicizing these factors has fueled a
policy-reform agenda in law enforcement, leading to a change in eyewitness identification procedures,
recording of interrogations, better preservation of biological evidence, monitoring of forensic labs, and
giving inmates access to post-conviction DNA testing. In addition, Innocence Network lawyers have
proposed policies for use in drafting new laws. In 1998, Innocence Project cases led to a moratorium on the
death penalty enacted by the governor of Illinois. Within a few years, Norris writes, "innocence was
fundamentally changing the death penalty discussion in the United States." A useful contribution to an
important national conversation about crime and punishment.
Source Citation (MLA 8th
Edition)
"Norris, Robert J.: EXONERATED." Kirkus Reviews, 1 Apr. 2017. General OneFile,
http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A487668589/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=3eef5cc8.
Accessed 24 Mar. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A487668589
QUOTED: "look at innocence research through a fresh lens."
"The approach of Examining Wrongful Convictions: Stepping Back, Moving Forward helps to formulate a framework of knowledge that learns from the limitations of the past and creates a strong theoretical foundation for the future."
Leona Deborah Jochnowitz
Northern Vermont University, Johnson State College
Date Written: July 4, 2016
Abstract
Examining Wrongful Convictions: Stepping Back, Moving Forward by the interdisciplinary array of its coauthors, Allison D. Redlich, James R. Acker, Robert J. Norris, Catherine L. Bonventre, brings together expertise in psychological research, law, sociology, and forensic science. This book helps to develop methodological and theoretical perspectives that move the science of innocence research forward by first reaching back to the historical and legal roots and then forward to analyze the prevalence of wrongful convictions, the correlations and causal relationships, and policies for possible reform. Each chapter written by contributing scholars adheres to this backward/forward leitmotiv focusing on interdisciplinary issues that examine the systemic, political, and structural issues of innocence research. This structure facilitates the book’s examination of fresh and innovative approaches to understanding innocence theory, rooted in the past and looking forward, such as racism, justice system culture and adversarial approaches, plea bargaining, false confessions, and American punitive wars on drugs and crime.
Examining Wrongful Convictions: Stepping Back, Moving Forward presents the study of wrongful convictions in a new light. It suggests that to move forward with the science of innocence research, the reader must first understand the historical limitations in which scholars convinced of the perfection of the American criminal justice system refused to admit that erroneous convictions of the actually innocent were a reality and a problem. Examining Wrongful Convictions: Stepping Back, Moving Forward also teaches scholars and readers that, in examining the past, it is evident that categorical lists and catalogues of errors in the emergent innocence research was just the beginning of the science, and that it also confined it into obvious, well-known constructs. The interdisciplinary approach to innocence research will guard against the tunnel vision that infected lawyers who believed implicitly in the infallibility of the system and move the discipline beyond confining categorical lists toward policy and reform. The book lets the reader look at innocence research through a fresh lens, understanding innocence theory, rooted in the past and looking forward, focusing on new issues like innocence and racism, justice system culture, the adversary system, plea bargaining, false confessions, juvenile behavior, and the American punitive wars on drugs and crime. More importantly, the approach of Examining Wrongful Convictions: Stepping Back, Moving Forward helps to formulate a framework of knowledge that learns from the limitations of the past and creates a strong theoretical foundation for the future. This is a guide in all social science studies, not just research on innocence, for integrating science and practice in formulating reform policies.