# Hypothetical: You are wrongfully convicted of a felony, how would you cope? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 5, 2014, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-you-are-wrongfully-convicted-of-a-felony-how-would-you-cope/703797 "2014-11-05T20:17:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-you-are-wrongfully-convicted-of-a-felony-how-would-you-cope/703797/21 "2014-11-06T17:38:08Z")
> [@Steken](#): > > I would imagine that I would cope fairly well with prison life itself. Read, write, chill - rinse and repeat. So I’d probably make it. As long as my girlfriend, my family and my loved ones knew / believed that I was innocent, that is. Big issue for me, if I had their support or not. [Coping may not be](http://prisonoffenders.com/prison_life.html) [as easy as you think,](http://www.sungazette.com/page/content.detail/id/584288/Sex-offenders-run-risk-of-sexual-assault-in-prison.html?nav=5011) and if you live in New York [you may be in for a longer stay than you think.](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/22/nyregion/with-new-limits-on-where-they-can-go-sex-offenders-are-held-after-serving-sentences.html?_r=0) ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-you-are-wrongfully-convicted-of-a-felony-how-would-you-cope/703797/22 "2014-11-06T18:11:55Z")
I’m pretty sure that I’d go nuts. ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-you-are-wrongfully-convicted-of-a-felony-how-would-you-cope/703797/23 "2014-11-06T19:10:10Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > [Coping may not be](http://prisonoffenders.com/prison_life.html) [as easy as you think,](http://www.sungazette.com/page/content.detail/id/584288/Sex-offenders-run-risk-of-sexual-assault-in-prison.html?nav=5011) and if you live in New York [you may be in for a longer stay than you think.](http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/22/nyregion/with-new-limits-on-where-they-can-go-sex-offenders-are-held-after-serving-sentences.html?_r=0) I probably should have mentioned that I live in Scandinavia. The prisons over here tend to be, uh, somewhat less brutal than the ones across the pond. In an _American_ prison, I’m sure I wouldn’t last 'til lunch.\* \*) Source: _Blood In, Blood Out_. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-you-are-wrongfully-convicted-of-a-felony-how-would-you-cope/703797/24 "2014-11-06T20:02:05Z")
> [@Steken](#): > > I probably should have mentioned that I live in Scandinavia. The prisons over here tend to be, uh, somewhat less brutal than the ones across the pond. In an _American_ prison, I’m sure I wouldn’t last 'til lunch.\* > > \*) Source: _Blood In, Blood Out_. Oh, yes! You should have mentioned that you live in a country where the word used for “prison” translates as “summer camp” in the rest of the industrialized world. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-you-are-wrongfully-convicted-of-a-felony-how-would-you-cope/703797/25 "2014-11-06T20:09:38Z")
> [@nevadaexile](#): > > Since getting convicted is for those who are truly innocent a long arduous process, I would do everything in my power to make it as expensive as possible for the prosecution TO convict me. From fighting extradition, to demanding a trial by jury to not accepting any deals, sending me to prison wouldn’t be an easy process. > > And if I was sent to prison, I would file endless appeals, I would write numerous letters and I would contact multiple media sources to have them look into my conviction. The more static that you create the more it would be that your conviction would be scrutinized the potential it being overturned would be greater. > > Most people who are in jail, whether or not they are innocent of the crime for which they have been convicted, aren’t known for their work ethic. Most quickly become resigned to their fate and then simply await their release. Myself, I would make those ten years a very long ten years for all parties involved. That’s what you say now. That’s what I would be tempted to say about myself, but the fact is that most wrongly convicted people eventually resignate to their fate, as you wrote. It’s a bit presumptuous to assume you wouldn’t. I’m pretty sure they were all as outraged as you would be and as determined as you would be, originally. And I suppose you’d make those ten years very long for only one party involved : yourself. It’s not like the prosecutor who nailed you or the police officer who arrested you is going to sleep poorly because you filed yet another desperate appeal that will get you nowhere. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-you-are-wrongfully-convicted-of-a-felony-how-would-you-cope/703797/26 "2014-11-06T20:13:59Z")
This remind me of something I’ve seen some time ago about parole board and the current thread about accused showing remorse. It seems that, in particular for sexual crimes, parole boards are very insistent on the the culprit “owning” his crime (admiting that he in fact did wrong rather than rationalizing it, etc…) I wonder how it could not work against the early release of a wrongly convicted person. Presumably, he isn’t going to own his crime or show remorse. Won’t stating “I was innocent” be a sure recipe to not get an early parole? ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-you-are-wrongfully-convicted-of-a-felony-how-would-you-cope/703797/27 "2014-11-06T21:58:23Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > It seems that, in particular for sexual crimes, parole boards are very insistent on the the culprit “owning” his crime (admiting that he in fact did wrong rather than rationalizing it, etc…) > > I wonder how it could not work against the early release of a wrongly convicted person. Presumably, he isn’t going to own his crime or show remorse. Won’t stating “I was innocent” be a sure recipe to not get an early parole? Reminds me of the (fictional) trope of how, in a mental institution, insisting that you are normal and sane will cause the psychiatrists to label you ‘delusional,’ (even if you ARE normal and sane,) and when you get angry over not being believed, they’ll call it an ‘anger disorder.’ ---
**Author:** ![Steken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e274bd/32.png) [@Steken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steken)\ **Post date:** [November 6, 2014, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-you-are-wrongfully-convicted-of-a-felony-how-would-you-cope/703797/28 "2014-11-06T22:03:31Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > Oh, yes! You should have mentioned that you live in a country where the word used for “prison” translates as “summer camp” in the rest of the industrialized world. 😃 😃 ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2014, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-you-are-wrongfully-convicted-of-a-felony-how-would-you-cope/703797/29 "2014-11-07T01:31:15Z")
This is really more of an IMHO question than a Great Debate. Off to happier climes. [/Moderating] [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/hypothetical-you-are-wrongfully-convicted-of-a-felony-how-would-you-cope/703797.md?page=1)