The lethal injection bed used in the "Old Main," the retired Southern part of the Penitentiary of New Mexico. (Photo: Ken Piorkowski / Wikimedia Creative Commons)
Apr 29, 2014
At least one in 25 people sentenced to death in the United States is innocent.
So finds a damning study published Monday in leading scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The authors, hailing from Pennsylvania and Michigan, employ a statistical technique called "survival analysis" to arrive at their conclusions.
According to what researchers call a "conservative estimate," between 1973 and 2004, at least 4.1 percent of people in the United States handed death sentences were innocent.
Yet, during this same time period, only 1.6 percent of them had been exonerated. The remaining innocent were either executed or had their sentences commuted to life in prison.
Death sentences are sometimes reversed in situations where the "accuracy of the defendants' convictions is in doubt," note the researchers. However, those defendants are often re-sentenced to life in prison. Once removed from death row, their cases no longer receive the same scrutiny of review, causing many of the innocent to languish in prison.
"Since 1973, nearly 8,500 defendants have been sentenced to death in the United States, and 138 of them have been exonerated," said Professor Samuel Gross of the University of Michigan Law School, one of the authors of the study. "Our study means that more than 200 additional innocent defendants have been sentenced to death in that period. Most of these undiscovered innocent capital defendants have been re-sentenced to life in prison, and then forgotten."
The figure of 4.1 percent, while conservative, is higher than estimates by previous researchers and casts doubt on the previous claim by conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia that criminal conviction rates have an error rate of .027 percent.
_____________________
Join Us: News for people demanding a better world
Common Dreams is powered by optimists who believe in the power of informed and engaged citizens to ignite and enact change to make the world a better place. We're hundreds of thousands strong, but every single supporter makes the difference. Your contribution supports this bold media model—free, independent, and dedicated to reporting the facts every day. Stand with us in the fight for economic equality, social justice, human rights, and a more sustainable future. As a people-powered nonprofit news outlet, we cover the issues the corporate media never will. |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Sarah Lazare
Sarah Lazare was a staff writer for Common Dreams from 2013-2016. She is currently web editor and reporter for In These Times.
At least one in 25 people sentenced to death in the United States is innocent.
So finds a damning study published Monday in leading scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The authors, hailing from Pennsylvania and Michigan, employ a statistical technique called "survival analysis" to arrive at their conclusions.
According to what researchers call a "conservative estimate," between 1973 and 2004, at least 4.1 percent of people in the United States handed death sentences were innocent.
Yet, during this same time period, only 1.6 percent of them had been exonerated. The remaining innocent were either executed or had their sentences commuted to life in prison.
Death sentences are sometimes reversed in situations where the "accuracy of the defendants' convictions is in doubt," note the researchers. However, those defendants are often re-sentenced to life in prison. Once removed from death row, their cases no longer receive the same scrutiny of review, causing many of the innocent to languish in prison.
"Since 1973, nearly 8,500 defendants have been sentenced to death in the United States, and 138 of them have been exonerated," said Professor Samuel Gross of the University of Michigan Law School, one of the authors of the study. "Our study means that more than 200 additional innocent defendants have been sentenced to death in that period. Most of these undiscovered innocent capital defendants have been re-sentenced to life in prison, and then forgotten."
The figure of 4.1 percent, while conservative, is higher than estimates by previous researchers and casts doubt on the previous claim by conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia that criminal conviction rates have an error rate of .027 percent.
_____________________
Sarah Lazare
Sarah Lazare was a staff writer for Common Dreams from 2013-2016. She is currently web editor and reporter for In These Times.
At least one in 25 people sentenced to death in the United States is innocent.
So finds a damning study published Monday in leading scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The authors, hailing from Pennsylvania and Michigan, employ a statistical technique called "survival analysis" to arrive at their conclusions.
According to what researchers call a "conservative estimate," between 1973 and 2004, at least 4.1 percent of people in the United States handed death sentences were innocent.
Yet, during this same time period, only 1.6 percent of them had been exonerated. The remaining innocent were either executed or had their sentences commuted to life in prison.
Death sentences are sometimes reversed in situations where the "accuracy of the defendants' convictions is in doubt," note the researchers. However, those defendants are often re-sentenced to life in prison. Once removed from death row, their cases no longer receive the same scrutiny of review, causing many of the innocent to languish in prison.
"Since 1973, nearly 8,500 defendants have been sentenced to death in the United States, and 138 of them have been exonerated," said Professor Samuel Gross of the University of Michigan Law School, one of the authors of the study. "Our study means that more than 200 additional innocent defendants have been sentenced to death in that period. Most of these undiscovered innocent capital defendants have been re-sentenced to life in prison, and then forgotten."
The figure of 4.1 percent, while conservative, is higher than estimates by previous researchers and casts doubt on the previous claim by conservative U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia that criminal conviction rates have an error rate of .027 percent.
_____________________
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.