Police Malfeasance

A root cause of the injustices portrayed by the book are the deeply unethical actions taken by police; police negligence and willful wrongdoing provide the starting point for the many unjust events on which the book reports. First, a mixture of police incompetence and seemingly willful negligence compelled the police to operate a highly shoddy investigation. The book notes that after Debbie Carter was found dead, “The murder rocked Ada” (16), and there was much pressure on the police to solve the murder. However, instead of investigating the one feasible suspect—Glen Gore—the police investigated Ron Williamson and Dennis Fritz. There was absolutely no evidence linking Ron to the crime, and Fritz’s “only possible link to the murder investigation was his friendship with Ron Williamson” (62). Thus, a thoroughly misguided investigation was the first step in the arresting of innocent men.

When the book addresses the possible...