Ed Brayton is a journalist, commentator and speaker. He is the co-founder and president of 
With the exoneration and release of a New York man who was convicted 33 years ago for a rape he did not commit, the Innocence Project has now freed its 250th wrongly convicted person in 21 years. They released a report on this milestone that looks at how those wrongful convictions came about, which is particularly important because those convictions were based on the kinds of evidence used in court every day.
Among the report's key findings:• There have been DNA exonerations in 33 states and the District of Columbia.
• The top three states for DNA exonerations are New York (with 25), Texas (with 40) and Illinois (with 29).
• 76% of the wrongful convictions involved eyewitness misidentification.
• 50% involved unvalidated or improper forensic science.
• 27% relied on a false confession, admission or guilty plea.
• 70% of the 250 people exonerated are people of color (60% are black; nearly 9% are Latino; 29% are white).
And Radley Balko points out something very important, that nearly 10% of those exonerations happened in a single county:
Dallas County, Texas alone has had 19 DNA exonerations, in part because it's one of the only jurisdictions in the country with a district attorney who is actually seeking out false convictions. That's a pretty good indication that the 250 figure would be higher if there were more DAs like him.
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And Republican leaders think that our justice system can't handle terrorists. The justice system is broken, but not in the fashion they believe.
Posted by: Shawn Wilkinson | February 12, 2010 9:36 AM
Oh come on - if this guy, and all the others were truly innocent, they wouldn't have been scooped up by the legal system anyway. "Let he who is truly innocent walk; condemn all others."
Posted by: dean | February 12, 2010 9:41 AM
Another tragic side effect of sloppy prosecutions:
In every case where an innocent person is convicted and sent to jail, a GUILTY one remains free, to commit more crimes.
Posted by: Reverend Rodney | February 12, 2010 10:11 AM
There are two ways of interpreting this sentence:
1. The reason there have been so many exonerations in Dallas is that the Dallas DA is an asshole who doesn't give a flying fuck about justice and thus deliberately conviced people he knew to be innocent, thus Dallas has a much higher incidence of false convictions.
2. The reason there have been so many exonerations in Dallas is that the Dallas DA actually gives a flying fuck about justice and is thus actively seeking to exonerate people who were falsely convicted.
The ambiguity of the sentence is troublesome, it's not immediately clear from it whether the Dallas DA is a champion of justice or a crook who should rot in jail. After reading the original article, it becomes clear that BOTH interpretations are correct. The LAST Dallas DA was a crooked asshole, the new guy is making an effort to clean up his mess.
Posted by: phantomreader42 | February 12, 2010 11:02 AM
"Craig Watkins, a Dallas native, was inaugurated on January 1, 2007, as the Criminal District Attorney (DA) for Dallas County, Texas."
http://www.dallasda.com/Craig_Watkins.html
I think that we can conclude that the overturned convictions are most likely the responsibility of those that preceded Mr. Watkins in office.
Posted by: firstpusk | February 12, 2010 11:48 AM
Considering the correlation between right-wing Christianity and use of the death penalty, it's more like "execute them all; God will know his own."
Posted by: D. C. Sessions | February 12, 2010 12:15 PM
I agree with phantomreader42. I interpreted that sentence to mean the opposite when I first read it, and I clicked through to Balko's article. I was pleasantly surprised to find that the DA in question is a really good guy!
Posted by: Michael | February 12, 2010 12:24 PM
That's a pretty good indication that the 250 figure would be higher if there were more DAs like him.
With respect to phantomreader42's (@4) 1st interpretation--IF? What kind of people do you think become prosecutors?
A cliche about prison is that prisoners always claim to be innocent. The assumption is that they're all full of crap. What percentage of them aren't?
Posted by: Molly, NYC | February 12, 2010 12:44 PM
How in the hell do you get your life back on track after being in prison for 33 years?
Posted by: Jason R | February 12, 2010 1:52 PM
@Jason R
That's simple - You sue the county for wrongful conviction
(I wish it weren't true)
Posted by: Fake-name | February 12, 2010 10:43 PM
Re Moly NYC @ #8
I once heard attorney and Harvard professor Alan Dershowitz claim that, in his experience, 95% of the miscreants charged with a crime are guilty of that crime.
Posted by: SLC | February 12, 2010 10:53 PM
Can only speak for fascists like myself, but I don't quite understand what the big deal is. Yeah, the government occasionally convicts an innocent man, but, in my estimation, a few innocent dudes going to jail is a small price to pay for all the guilty bastards paying for what they done?
"But Darth Conans, what about all the guilty men who go free because the government decided to charge an innocent fellow with the crime?" I hear y'all crying. My response is simple. I wholeheartedly support any amendment that'll let the government charge, try, and convict multiple suspects for the same crime. The way I see it, if a state prosecutor can convince a jury of your peers that you committed some offense beyond any reasonable doubt, it doesn't matter that they've also convinced some other peers that some other dude already perpetrated that crime. If they can persuade a jury that you did it, you must have done something wrong.
Posted by: Darth Conans | February 13, 2010 12:31 PM
SLC @ 11 --Thank you for the reply, but that sounds like Dershowitz was just pulling a number out of his ass while trying to make a point.
However, even if you take 95% as valid, it means that one prisoner out of every 20 is wrongly convicted. If you figure 3 million prisoners in this country, that's 150,000 innocent, totally screwed people.
Posted by: Molly, NYC | February 13, 2010 2:37 PM
I think phantomreader42 is speaking out through his ass once again. A person that has no character, no skill in thinking, and unable to communicate effectively even through written communication. I'm not surprised on how stupid this guy is. His language is something like I crap, not good at all.
Posted by: Quinten | June 14, 2010 9:56 AM
Also take note on phantomreader42 grammar, a number of misspelled words and his grammar does not flow smoothly. I think he wrote the above under anger :-)
Posted by: Quinten | June 14, 2010 9:59 AM
my son was sentence to life in prison for something he did not do i need help he have done 18year and they give him 7 more year on 1 -10 -11. please help him please. number is 5595726621 thank u
Posted by: arma ailsworth | January 20, 2011 11:38 PM
arma ailsworth - I certainly feel for your plight.
My advice is to call the local chapter of The Innocence Project directly. The number should be in your telephone directory, or you could ask a your local library or even try your local court house (the Public Defenders' Office or the like), all these might be able to help you contact them.
But also, be aware it will take time, effort and luck, and is in no way guaranteed to free your son.
I wish you the best of luck, and please keep in touch to tell us how it's getting on. - Dingo
Posted by: DingoJack | January 21, 2011 12:03 AM
And was I was going to post a snarky comment about steak knives. Just shows how callous I have become. - Dingo
Posted by: DingoJack | January 21, 2011 1:01 AM