Last year set a new record for exonerations in the United States, according to statistics published Wednesday by the National Registry of Exonerations, a project of the University of Michigan Law School.
At least 149 defendants were cleared in 2015, 10 more than in 2014. They had, on average, spent 14 and a half years in prison, the report (pdf) said. Some served more than three decades.
A record 58 defendants were exonerated in homicide cases, and more than two-thirds of those were minorities, including half who were African American. Five had been sentenced to death, 19 to life—usually without parole—and the rest to decades in prison. Three-quarters of the homicide cases involved concealing evidence, allowing witnesses to lie, or other official misconduct, the data shows.
“Exonerations are now common,” the Registry states in its write-up of the data. “Not long ago, any exoneration we heard about was major news. Now it’s a familiar story. We average nearly three exonerations a week, and most get little attention.”
The statistics are “scary for anyone who cares about fair and equal justice,” wrote Foon Rhee for the Sacramento Bee on Wednesday. “Just imagine if it were you or someone you love wrongly behind bars.”
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