GUARDIAN: …Some 125 inmates were exonerated and released last year, marking the first time that the number has risen above 100 in a single 12-month period. In 2013, the total number of exonerations was 91.
The record number, as recorded by the National Registry of Exonerations, points to the nationwide spread of so-called “conviction integrity units” – dedicated teams of experts set up in largely city-based jurisdictions to consider possible miscarriages of justice. There are now 15 such units in the country. Six were created last year alone…
“If the number of conviction integrity units keeps on increasing they will still only touch on a fraction of the prosecutorial offices in the US,” [Samuel Gross, a professor at the University of Michigan law school] said… (more)
EDITOR: This is still another national disgrace, as the criminal justice system victimized those who could not adequately defend themselves. There are promotions for convictions; plenty of good union jobs for prison guards. Then we had to feed the private prisons. The greatest vehicle for injustice was the so called War on Drugs. Ours is both a great and a cruel country. Alas, very human.
