US exonerations hit record high due to false convictions: Report
Criminal exonerations in the United States hit a record high last year due to wrongful convictions and an unjust legal system, a new report has found.
A record 149 people were exonerated in 2015, nearly three a week, the National Registry of Exonerations said Wednesday.
A record 58 exonerated defendants had been convicted of homicide, including five people who had been sentenced to death, according to the report.
About three-quarters of the homicide exonerations included official misconduct, it said.
"There is a coming to terms that this is a regular problem, not just something that happens once in a while and unpredictably," said Samuel Gross, a law professor at the University of Michigan and editor of the registry.
"But progress so far is a drop in the bucket," Gross said.
"For the integrity of the system, it is the right thing to do," said Inger Chandler, head of the Harris County District Attorney's Conviction Review Section, where there were 42 exonerations in 2015.
Texas had 54 known exonerations in 2015, followed by 17 in New York and 13 in Illinois, the report said.
"We have turned the corner in dealing with wrongful convictions. There’s a lot more to do, but it’s just a matter of time," the report said.
The report comes at a time of heightened scrutiny on the US law enforcement and criminal justice system.
In the past few years there have been high-profile cases involving police misconduct, especially against African-Americans, that drew headlines and protests, while podcasts and television series exploring the cases of people serving sentences for murders have garnered huge followings.
"The most striking thing about these exonerations, however, is the nature of the underlying convictions," the report said. "The list of exonerations in 2015 includes record numbers of homicide cases with false confessions and official misconduct, with convictions based on guilty pleas, and cases in which no crime in fact occurred."
Black mothers march on White House
Google knew Israel may use its tools for rights violations: Report
Judge grants bail to pro-Palestine student Ozturk as US campus crackdown escalates
At Cannes Festival, Robert De Niro slams Trump as global threat, 'philistine president'
Israeli cabinet votes to formalize annexation of West Bank
In historic meeting, Ayatollah Sistani and Ayatollah Javadi Amoli discuss Quranic scholarship
Israel massacres scores in strikes on Jabalia refugee camp
VIDEO | Iran, Russia launch 2nd phase of banking integration
VIDEO | Press TV's news headlines
‘Now it’s their time to shine’: Trump to lift all sanctions on Syria, meet with Jolani
VIDEO | International overlooking: From partition plan to ignoring genocide
PressTV NEWSLETTER
now
This makes it easy to access the Press TV website
