On May 21, the University of Michigan Law School and the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University announced the start of the first National Registry of Exonerations and released an extensive report discussing the problem of wrongful convictions in the U.S. The Registry contains information on nearly 900 people who were falsely convicted of serious crimes, including many who were sentenced to death, and who have been exonerated since 1989. It is by far the largest collection of such cases and will be updated on an ongoing basis. The authors believe that many more such cases exist, including over 1,000 cases from "group exonerations" involving official misconduct that are discussed in the report. The report accompanying the registry, Exonerations in the United States, 1989−2012, was written principally by Professor Samuel Gross (pictured) of Michigan's Law School. It discusses the most common errors that led to these miscarriages of justice. Rob Warden, Executive Director of the Center on Wrongful Convictions, said, “The National Registry of Exonerations gives an unprecedented view of the scope of the problem of wrongful convictions in the United States. This is a good start–a milestone–but there’s a long way to go before we have a complete picture of wrongful convictions in the United States.” Prof. Gross added, “The more we learn about false convictions, the better we’ll be at preventing them – or if that fails, at finding and correcting them as best we can after the fact.”
An Op-Ed signed by eleven current and former Kentucky prosecutors calls for reforms to Kentucky's death penalty, in light of the recent report issued by the American Bar Association. The ABA report was released in December after a two-year study of fairness and accuracy in capital cases in Kentucky. The prosecutors cite Kentucky's "unacceptable" 60% error rate in death sentencing, saying "As a matter of basic fairness, we must pause to understand and reform the way capital punishment is administered in our state." They recommend a suspension of executions until reforms are implemented, in order to ensure a fair process. Among their suggestions for reform are a proposal currently being considered by the state legislature that would exempt severly mentally ill defendants from the death penalty. Other recommendations include preservation and testing of biological evidence, increased funding for indigent defense, and revision of jury instructions. They conclude, "The hallmark of our criminal justice system is that its process is fair and its results are reliable and accurate. Our reversal rate undermines this hallmark. These troubling issues in capital cases must be addressed now."
DPIC is pleased to announce the completion of our 