What we Know About Exonerations and What we can Learn From Them

• In Event: Miscarriages of Justice: National Registry of Exonerations

Abstract

An initial report by the National Registry of Exonerations, released in May 2012, included 873 cases. As of early March, 2014, the Registry lists more than 1,330 exonerations, and has been adding cases at a rate of about 225 a year. About 2/3 of the added cases are “old” exonerations that occurred years or decades before they were listed, but the number of new exonerations that took place in 2013 was an all time record. Several striking patterns will be discussed, including: a basic revision of common wisdom about the causes of wrongful convictions (e.g., perjury rather than eyewitness misidentification appears to be the most common contributing cause); the growing proportion of exonerations in cases that do not involve rape or homicide; and evidence that in recent years law enforcement agencies have become increasingly active in helping to secure exonerations.

Author

• Samuel Gross, National Registry of Exonerations