ABSTRACT
This chapter highlights some of the unique trials and tribulations faced by innocent individuals who have been wrongly convicted. It begins with a general introduction to wrongful conviction, followed by sections on incarceration experiences and post-incarceration experiences. The chapter discusses the potential consequences of the stigma exonerees experience, and possible mechanisms underlying this stigma. It focuses on some of these different experiences, drawing on Goffman to lend insight into the challenges wrongly convicted individuals face. In this modern era, where DNA testing is possible, there is mounting evidence that a growing number of innocent individuals have been convicted and sentenced for crimes they did not commit. Many researchers and advocates explain that known cases of wrongful conviction are only the tip of an iceberg and that there are exponentially more unknown factually innocent individuals who have been erroneously convicted and incarcerated.
