Imagine you’ve got a large group of dogs on a farm. For the most part they all get along. They’re all loving and obedient and nothing could go wrong. Until it does. One day one of the smaller dogs is attacked. Then the next day another one is attacked. You vaguely recall seeing the second attack, however it was night. But this is enough to determine the size of the dog that has been doing the attacking and pick out five likely dogs that could be doing the misdeed. But all the dogs are calm and friendly. However you’re fairly confident that it is one of them that is actually violent. There is a looming pressure to find out which dog is actually violent. You can’t let this happen again. You need to pick one. You need to separate it and punish it. But which one is it? What if you pick the wrong one? Do you really have enough evidence because you briefly think you saw something?
Misidentification is a serious issue in the American justice system today. While we would all like to believe that we are infallible and that our memories true and just, that simply is not the case. It is well known that memory is a flexible thing that can be influenced by a number of factors including stress, time and mood (Smeets et al, 2008). A large issue in the face of the justice system is the misidentification that occurs during police lineups. One study found that from a database of 500 cases that involved wrongful convictions, 60% of them were related to cases of misidentification in police lineups. That number is staggering. Imagine being innocent, but having the unfortunate displeasure of looking somewhat similar to a criminal and then being accused of their crime.
Memory is a powerful thing. We rely heavily upon it, but when it comes to the justice system, memory should not play as large a part as it does. There is simply too much that can go wrong. There are too many factors that affect memory, and when memory can be the crux of a conviction, the consequences can be devastating.
Huff, C. R., Rattner, A., & Sagarin, E. (1986). Guilty until proved innocent – wrongful conviction and public police. Crime and Delinquency, 32(4), 518-544. Retrieved from http://ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/docview/9840286?accountid=13158
Smeets, Tom & Otgaar, Henry & Candel, Ingrid & T Wolf, Oliver. (2008). True or false? Memory is differently affected by stress-induced cortisol elevations and sympathetic activity at consolidation and retrieval. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 33. 1378-86. 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2008.07.009.