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Innocence Project

Adnan Syed outside the Baltimore courthouse | Lloyd Fox/TNS/Newscom

Criminal Justice

Adnan Syed's Exoneration Shows How Hard It Is To Free Innocent People

Convincing evidence of his innocence has been available for years. But the criminal legal system prioritizes procedure and bureaucracy over liberty.

Billy Binion | 10.11.2022 5:26 PM

Screen Shot 2022-03-13 at 7.20.20 PM | Screenshot via YouTube

Death Penalty

Texas Plans To Execute a Mom for Killing Her 2-Year-Old, but the Case Has Numerous Problems

The district attorney who put Melissa Lucio away is now behind bars himself.

Lenore Skenazy | 3.14.2022 9:00 AM

deathrow2 | Illustration: Scott Shackford and Isaac Reese; Photo: Mississippi Innocence Project

Death Penalty

185 Americans Wrongly Sentenced to Death Have Been Freed in the Last Half-Century

For every 8.3 executions in the United States, one innocent person on death row has been exonerated.

Scott Shackford and Isaac Reese | 9.27.2021 6:00 AM

Screen Shot 2021-05-06 at 3.56.47 PM | Screenshot via Ledger Enquirer

Innocence Project

Parents Wrongly Accused of Killing Their Baby Are Freed 13 Years Later

"I do not hold any bitterness toward anybody."

Lenore Skenazy | 5.6.2021 4:01 PM

Lamar Johnson | Counsel for Johnson

Missouri

The Missouri A.G. Is Advocating for the McCloskeys' Civil Liberties. What About Lamar Johnson's?

What is the state's position when an innocent man spends 25 years in prison?

Zuri Davis | 7.23.2020 12:20 PM

Lamonte McIntyre | Rich Sugg/TNS/Newscom

Kansas

A Wrongfully Convicted Kansas Man Can Now Sue the Corrupt Cop Who Framed Him

Lamonte McIntyre served 23 years in prison for murders that he did not commit.

Zuri Davis | 3.10.2020 11:05 AM

Lamar Johnson | Missouri Department of Corrections

Criminal Justice

45 Prosecutors Ask Missouri's Supreme Court To Give Lamar Johnson a New Trial

Lamar Johnson, who is serving his 25th year in prison, has been absolved of responsibility for a 1994 murder. A circuit judge says it's too late to give him a new trial.

Zuri Davis | 2.12.2020 11:25 AM

Ledell Lee | Splash News/Newscom

Death Penalty

DNA Testing Could Prove That Arkansas Executed an Innocent Man Three Years Ago

The ACLU and the Innocence Project are suing to uncover the evidence.

Zuri Davis | 1.27.2020 9:25 AM

James Dailey | Florida Department of Corrections

Death Penalty

An Unreliable Jailhouse Informant May Have Sent an Innocent Florida Man to Death Row

James Dailey is running out of options to prove his innocence.

Zuri Davis | 12.12.2019 2:20 PM

DNA Test | Motortion/Dreamstime.com

Death Penalty

Tennessee Court Refuses To Test DNA Evidence That Could Exonerate a Man the State Already Executed

According to the law, the deceased Sedley Alley is the only person who can file a petition for post-conviction DNA testing.

Zuri Davis | 11.20.2019 2:55 PM

Innocence

How often are innocent persons convicted?

In a new law review article, I try to provide a realistic estimate of the rate. I come up with tentative range of somewhere between 0.016% and 0.062% -- well below the figure of 1% to 4% that is often cited as the conventional wisdom.

Paul Cassell |The Volokh Conspiracy | 11.1.2018 6:33 AM

Large image on homepages | Christinlola / Dreamstime

Innocence Project

Man Wrongfully Sentenced to 50 Years in Prison Goes Free After Dog He Supposedly Killed Is Found Alive and Well

Joshua Horner was convicted of sexual abuse-his victim claimed he killed her dog to keep her from talking. But the dog is fine.

Lenore Skenazy | 9.12.2018 11:01 AM

Large image on homepages | Ann Parry/ZUMA Press/Newscom

Prosecutors

New York Sets Up First Statewide Panel to Investigate Prosecutorial Misconduct

District attorneys rarely ever get punished for misbehavior that puts innocent people behind bars. Is that about to change?

Scott Shackford | 8.21.2018 1:20 PM

Large image on homepages

Forensic science

Stossel: Junk Science Locks Up Innocent People

DNA testing reveals that long-used forensic methods are error-riddled.

John Stossel and Maxim Lott | 5.22.2018 11:45 AM

Large image on homepages | Tom Ricciardi / Dreamstime.com

Innocence

Discovery of Police Corruption Freed Dozens of Imprisoned Americans in 2017

Government misconduct a big driver of exonerations last year.

Scott Shackford | 3.14.2018 4:15 PM

Large image for longform feature pages. | Colin Pitchfork mugshot, DNA test superimposed

DNA

DNA Evidence Frees the Innocent

But when we're not careful, this powerful technology can help imprison the wrongly accused

Robert Norris | 7.18.2017 6:00 AM

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