Wrongfully Convicted – How Big Is This Problem?
76-year-old man who a prosecutor says was wrongly convicted in the 1957 killing of an Illinois schoolgirl was released Friday shortly after a judge vacated his conviction, meaning one of the oldest cold cases to be tried in U.S. history has officially gone cold again. (Michael Tarm of the Associated Press) See More
Wrongful Convictions: How Could This Happen? How Common Is This? Can Anything Be Done To Prevent It?
According to the Innocence Project
- There have been 337 post-conviction DNA exonerations in the United States.
- The average length of time served by exonerees is 14 years, some of them were on death row.
- The average age of exonerees at the time of their wrongful convictions was 26.5.
Once someone is in prison and claims to be innocent, nobody believes him. Many say, our justice system is not perfect, but it’s the best we can do.
IS IT?
DNA has saved 337 people wrongfully convicted, frequently after multiple years in prison. How many others are innocent, but there was no DNA evidence?
CAUSES: There are several causes for wrongful incarcerations: “Eyewitness Misidentification Testimony was a factor in more than 70 percent of post-conviction DNA exoneration cases in the U.S., making it the leading cause of these wrongful convictions.” See the other causes
What can be done. See Here
The Innocence Project is a non-profit legal organization that is committed to exonerating wrongly convicted people
See their Frequently Asked Questions
Stay Plugged In – Subscribe to Greenwood Calendar
