How innocent people land in prison

[no_hypocrisy]

4. I can think of a few reasons how innocent people land in jail.

Being flagged by "the authorities", whether it's the police or child protection.

Being without means to access good competent legal assistance.

Having a public defender who is swamped with other cases and can't give your situation the appropriate time and attention it deserves.

Having a public defender whose modus operandi is lessen your punishment, not exonerate you.

Being poor and being a defendant suggests you're guilty before you're innocent.

Not knowing your rights. As soon as you start talking to a police officer, even before you're arrested, you're helping yourself get arrested, indicted, and convicted.

Having someone with a grudge against you (spouse, child, neighbor, coworker) use the System to have you arrested or at least have an investigation on you.

I just finished a case with a woman without means. Child Protection took away her five children and had them in foster care for more than three years and never intended to return them to her. If my colleague and I didn't donate our time to help her, she would have lost her kids to adoption. BTW, the judge found no evidence of abuse or neglect and that Child Protection improperly removed her children from her custody.