Duke University Law School professor Lisa Kern Griffin in a great OP-ED for The New York Times on Netflix’s Making a Murderer series:

The prosecutor in Mr. Avery’s trial argued in his closing statement that “reasonable doubts are for innocent people.” They are not. And procedural protections like access to defense counsel and freedom from coerced interrogations extend to both the innocent and the guilty. The real contribution of these documentaries is not to ask “whodunit” but to reveal what was done to the defendants.

As listeners and viewers consume these stories, they are reminded of the humanity of the individuals involved — and they learn to see the defendants as more than abstractions. That knowledge should lead people to understand that resolution and justice are not the same thing. And whether or not the truth of these crimes ever comes out, shows, podcasts and narrative articles can make the public aware of distortions that occur in the legal process.

She closes with a warning against easy slacktivistm. Go read the whole thing.