Why do people falsely confess? It happens more often than you realize

The headline of this post is taken from the Chicago Tribune. Reporters Lisa Black and Steve Mills wrote the story under the headline for the July 11 front page.

My blog has addressed the role of false confessions in wrongful convictions previously. I call attention to the Chicago Tribune story partly to make a positive point about investigative journalism, which is under siege these days.

The point is this: More than a decade ago, the Chicago Tribune assembled three reporters, Mills, Maurice Possley and Ken Armstrong. They investigated wrongful convictions from numerous angles. Along with theireditor and photographer colleagues, the three reporters accomplished what might be the best sustained, consequential investigative reporting in the history of the craft.

One result: The governor of Illinois, who had entered office as a death penalty supporter, placed a moratorium on the death penalty in the state. Why? Because he realized he could no longer trust the conduct of police, prosecutors, judges and juries in Cook County capital cases.

The Chicago Tribune has fallen on tough times in recent years, in large part because of its new owner, Sam Zell, who might represent the nadir of newspaper publishers. Armstrong and Possley left. So did many of their editor and photographer colleagues. Mills, obviously, remained.

Every contribution Mills and his Tribune colleagues make to understanding the ridiculously common phenomenon of wrongful convictions will be welcome.