More innocent people were released from prison last year than in any year before.
In 2013 alone, 87 innocent people were exonerated in the United States, after spending an average of 12 years in prison. The National Registry of Exonerations marks this record-breaking year in their new report, available to read online.
This news reflects a growing concern with many of the causes of wrongful conviction that are often ignored, including false confessions extracted under the threat of the death penalty.
But it also shows that we still have a long way to go, and it shows the importance of abolishing the death penalty to protect the innocent from wrongful conviction. Read more about the Beatrice Six case, the largest exoneration ever in the country.