The Milgaard inquiry : power, discourse and public truth in a wrongful conviction

Abstract

This thesis represents a qualitative content analysis of the final report of the Commission of Inquiry into the Wrongful Conviction of David Milgaard, also known as the Milgaard Inquiry. Influenced by Michel Foucault’s concepts of power, truth, discourse, resistance and truth-telling, as well as Howard Becker’s concept of a hierarchy of credibility, this thesis examines the political nature of the public inquiry process as a tool for producing truths and discourses about a wrongful conviction. I examine how multiple truth claims were gathered, assessed, and ordered to create official discourses about the case, how certain groups resisted exercises of power at the Inquiry, and how the Commission attempted to restore confidence and legitimacy to the criminal justice system in the wake of the miscarriage of justice.