An Exercise in Exceptions

In this chat format, we gather regular authors and guests in Slack and have a moderated conversation, guided by prompts and questions selected in advance. Participants get to respond to each other's points, make comments, and ask each other questions in real-time. The transcript has been lightly edited. Will Crozier &#x1F419 Welcome to the inaugural chat of An Exercise in Exceptions ! In this format, we'll have a conversation about a topic, rather than writing a typical blog post. We'll call in some guests that can contribute something unique to the conversation, and get their thoughts to explore some topic, issue, or question. Today's topic: Brendan Dasseys' confession and the 7th Circuit Court's decision to uphold Dassey's conviction. But before we get into that, let's introduce ourselves. Timothy and I have our bio pages up on the website, so first-time readers can check out those. Today, we're joined by Fabiana ...

In December 2015, Netflix brought the justice system to the forefront of the public consciousness with its award-winning documentary Making a Murderer . The 10-episode serialization followed the story of Steven Avery – a Wisconsin man who was wrongfully convicted of rape in 1985, spent 18 years in prison before being exonerated, and was then arrested and ultimately convicted for the murder of Teresa Halbach in 2005. While the documentary focuses primarily on Steven Avery as the main suspect, Making a Murderer also highlighted a lesser-known element of the case: the confession and conviction of Brendan Dassey, Avery’s nephew. Although there’s a lot to analyze in this case, we focus here on a nagging question – did Brendan Dassey give a false confession? Dassey’s involvement in the case was little understood until Netflix’s deep dive into the case, but has emerged as one of the most scrutinized and tragic elements. Briefly, the police focused on Avery as a suspect in the disappe...