False Justice: A Former State Attorney General Confronts Our Broken Criminal Justice System and Exposes 12 Myths that Convict the Innocent

by Jim Petro, Nancy Petro

Overview

Former Ohio Attorney General crusades against wrongful conviction and shows how citizens can prevent this terrifyingly common miscarriage of justice.
 
“Wrongful criminal conviction is much more frequent than most Americans believe. The thought of imprisoned innocent people haunted me. I became determined to try to do something about it.”  —Jim Petro, Former Attorney General of Ohio
 
The flaws in America’s execution of justice lead to an unacceptable number of wrongful criminal convictions. Jim Petro was confronted with this issue when the guilt of several convicts serving life sentences was called into question. In False Justice, Jim and Nancy Petro detail and challenge eight myths of justice:

1. “Everyone in prison claims innocence.”
2. “The conviction of an innocent person is extremely rare.”
3. “Only the guilty confess.”
4. “Wrongful convictions are accidental and unintentional.”
5. “Eyewitness testimony is the best evidence.”
6. “Conviction errors get corrected on appeal.”
7. “Questioning a conviction dishonors the victim.”
8. “The pros will fix the justice system.”
9. “Forensic science is trustworthy.”
10. ”Juries are prepared and qualified to decide cases fairly.”
11. “Innocent people never plead guilty.”
12. “Our system delivers fair and equal justice for all.”

False Justice corrects these common misunderstandings with an important truth: true justice requires constant vigilance and is the responsibility of every citizen.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781493094318
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	05/19/2026
Pages:	275
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.00(d)

About the Author

Jim Petro brings to this topic an unusual if not unique platform as a former pro-death penalty prosecutor and elected Republican attorney general. Most other writers on wrongful conviction and the death penalty are the expected advocates: defence attorneys, law professors, former Innocence Project lawyers, social justice advocates, etc. Petro has unusual credibility as one who has come from the “other side” of the criminal justice system and found his foundational beliefs as a multi-decade lawyer upended by wrongful conviction.

              As the elected Attorney General of Ohio, Jim Petro committed to a strong law-and-order, nation-leading effort to utilize DNA to solve crimes, adding 210,000 criminal DNA profiles to the CODIS national database of crime scene DNA. This solved countless cold cases, but, shockingly, also proved that incarcerated people were serving time for crimes they did not commit—for example, Petro received DNA evidence proving the innocence of Clarence Elkins, serving a life sentence for the rape and murder of his mother-in-law and the rape of his six-year-old niece. This was one of three remarkable wrongful conviction cases that engaged Jim and launched his new life direction of addressing wrongful conviction both as a pro bono lawyer in individual cases and an outspoken advocate for criminal justice reform.

A lifelong Republican, Jim Petro’s elected positions range from City Council member in Rocky River, Ohio, to State Representative in the Ohio Legislature (four terms) to Ohio Attorney General. He retired from public service in 2013 as Chancellor of Ohio’s public colleges and universities. As a freshman state legislator, Jim was placed on the judiciary committee that advanced the bill reinstating the death penalty after the US Supreme Court had declared Ohio’s death penalty unconstitutional. Ironically, when Petro became Attorney General in 2003, he was responsible for personally overseeing Ohio’s executions—19 during his term. At this time, he was introduced to wrongful conviction. False Justice records his arc from death penalty proponent to opponent.

Jim Petro has been a Martindale-Hubbell AV-rated lawyer since 1980 in a 35-year legal career that included building a law practice and a major law firm partnership. He successfully argued cases in courts ranging from municipal to the US Supreme Court. He has been listed in Who’s Who in American Lawyers and Ohio Super Lawyers and has received countless awards as a lawyer, public official, and innocence advocate, including the national Innocence Network Champion of Justice award.

Jim Petro is a 1970 graduate of Denison University and a 1973 graduate of Case University School of Law. He has been married to co-author Nancy Petro for 52 years. The couple currently resides in Tiverton, Rhode Island, and Naples, Florida.

Nancy Petro began her writing career by co-authoring with Jim Petro on three editions of False Justice, as well as publishing in InBrief, the magazine of Case Western Reserve School of Law; the Ohio Innocence Project’s Annual Review; and The Columbus Dispatch. She was a frequent contributing editor to the Wrongful Convictions Blog, an international forum edited by Mark Godsey, University of Cincinnati law professor and director of the Ohio Innocence Project. She has co-authored chapters on wrongful conviction in the academic titles Wrongful Convictions and Miscarriages of Justice: Causes and Remedies in North American and European Criminal Justice Systems (Routledge 2013) and Current Problems of the Penal Law and Criminology (Wydawnictwo C. H. Beck, 2014).
              Nancy's earlier career included nearly 20 years as principal of Petro Graphic Design associates, providing award-winning graphic design and marketing services to greater Cleveland companies. In 1995 she launched All-Stater Sports, a national high school sports magazine, and grew its distribution to 100,000 nationwide before selling the publication to an Internet education company.
              In 2008 Nancy retired to support Jim’s Republican primary campaign for governor of Ohio. While he did not prevail, the two embraced their commitment to addressing wrongful conviction and correcting flaws in the criminal justice system. A phi beta kappa, cum laude graduate of Denison University, Nancy has served as a trustee on the boards of Denison University and the Ohio State University Hospitals, along with involvement in church and community service groups.

 

Editorial Reviews

(Praise for the Previous Edition) 
"One of the most important and influential books on the subject of wrongful convictions...A must read for any person or student interested in the eye-opening truth about wrongful conviction."
 

Mark Godsey

Jim Petro reveals in False Justice how the lessons of DNA analysis of crime scene evidence changed his views on criminal justice. Petro became motivated not only to represent the wrongfully convicted but also to change the system. This former prosecutor and state attorney general is an important voice for criminal justice reform.”
 

Barry Scheck