PhysOrg.com - Exonerations correct only a small fraction of false convictions
Because of the high degree of post-conviction litigation that goes into death-sentence convictions, these have been the easiest to study when it comes to the ability to convict the guilty. After conducting studies on death-penalty cases, researchers concluded that at least 2.3% of death-penalty convictions were false since 1973. If similar rates of error occurred for other crimes, there should be roughly 87,000 false convictions from 1989 to 2003, rather than the 266 that were reported. The three categories of exoneration in the US are rape (DNA overturned), murder (high degree of post-conviction investigation), and some drug/gun convictions (cops planting evidence). Blacks were much more likely to be falsely convicted of raping a white woman. (Remember that granting an exoneration doesn't indicate the exonerated person didn't do the crime, and a 'false conviction' doesn't mean the person is truly innocent.)
2 comments:
I heard this really powerful story on NPR a couple years ago about a cab driver who was falsely convicted of murdering someone and a virtual stranger spent ten years fighting to free him. The interviewer asked the one who was working so hard to get evidence to free the cab driver, how come he never gave up. The guy said "justice is the only thing worth fighting for."
Let's just hope nobody who defines justice as 'an eye for an eye' believes that.
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