Michael Naughton
Encyclopedia
Dr. Michael Naughton is a Senior Lecturer
in the School of Law and Department of Sociology at the University of Bristol
(2004-). He teaches in the general area of crime, justice and society, with a specialist interest in miscarriages of justice.
Dr Naughton has written extensively on issues related to miscarriages of justice and the wrongful conviction of the innocent for leading academic journals, broadsheet newspapers and is a regular contributor to public debates.
His academic publications range from the crucial issue of defining miscarriages of justice and the inclusion of all successful appeals against criminal conviction as official acknowledgments of miscarriage of justice, how miscarriages of justice should be distinguished from the wrongful conviction of the innocent, the challenges confronting prisoners maintaining innocence in their bid to make progress through the prison and parole systems and achieve their release, the need for caution in the use of DNA in criminal trials to avoid convicting the innocent, as well as the value of DNA evidence to exonerate innocent victims of wrongful conviction, the limits of the criminal appeals system and the Criminal Cases Review Commission in response to claims of innocence from alleged victims of wrongful conviction and imprisonment, and, the role and limitations of innocence projects in giving hope and practical assistance to innocent victims of wrongful conviction.
(INUK), an organisation he established to facilitate casework and communications in the area of wrongful convictions. He is also the founder and director of the University of Bristol Innocence Project
, the first innocence project in the UK. Additionally, through the INUK he has actively assisted in setting up over 30 innocence projects in UK universities and provides conferences and training materials to support and progress the work of INUK's member innocence projects.
Senior lecturer
Senior lecturer is an academic rank. In the United Kingdom, lecturer is a faculty position at a university or similar institution. Especially in research-intensive universities, lecturers lead research groups and supervise research students, as well as teach...
in the School of Law and Department of Sociology at the University of Bristol
University of Bristol
The University of Bristol is a public research university located in Bristol, United Kingdom. One of the so-called "red brick" universities, it received its Royal Charter in 1909, although its predecessor institution, University College, Bristol, had been in existence since 1876.The University is...
(2004-). He teaches in the general area of crime, justice and society, with a specialist interest in miscarriages of justice.
Dr Naughton has written extensively on issues related to miscarriages of justice and the wrongful conviction of the innocent for leading academic journals, broadsheet newspapers and is a regular contributor to public debates.
His academic publications range from the crucial issue of defining miscarriages of justice and the inclusion of all successful appeals against criminal conviction as official acknowledgments of miscarriage of justice, how miscarriages of justice should be distinguished from the wrongful conviction of the innocent, the challenges confronting prisoners maintaining innocence in their bid to make progress through the prison and parole systems and achieve their release, the need for caution in the use of DNA in criminal trials to avoid convicting the innocent, as well as the value of DNA evidence to exonerate innocent victims of wrongful conviction, the limits of the criminal appeals system and the Criminal Cases Review Commission in response to claims of innocence from alleged victims of wrongful conviction and imprisonment, and, the role and limitations of innocence projects in giving hope and practical assistance to innocent victims of wrongful conviction.
Social work
He is the founder and director of the Innocence Network UKInnocence Network
The Innocence Network is an affiliation of organizations dedicated to providing pro bono legal and investigative services to individuals seeking to prove innocence of crimes for which they have been convicted and working to redress the causes of wrongful convictions.Most organizations involved are...
(INUK), an organisation he established to facilitate casework and communications in the area of wrongful convictions. He is also the founder and director of the University of Bristol Innocence Project
Innocence Project
An Innocence Project is one of a number of non-profit legal organizations in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand dedicated to proving the innocence of wrongly convicted people through the use of DNA testing, and to reforming the criminal justice systems to...
, the first innocence project in the UK. Additionally, through the INUK he has actively assisted in setting up over 30 innocence projects in UK universities and provides conferences and training materials to support and progress the work of INUK's member innocence projects.
Key Publications
- Claims of Innocence: An introduction to wrongful convictions and how they might be challenged (2010, University of Bristol),
- The Criminal Cases Review Commission: Hope for the Innocent? (2009, Palgrave Macmillan)
- Rethinking Miscarriages of Justice (2007, Palgrave Macmillan).