Friday Roundup: What We Can Learn from 250 Exonerations

02.26.10

The 250th DNA exoneration was a landmark moment in the American criminal justice system, and public awareness of the problem seems to increase by the day.

Writing in the Texas Observer, Dave Mann pointed to the Innocence Project’s report on the first 250 DNA exonerations and examined ”

who gets exonerated and why

.”

The Cape Cod Times explained why the lessons of exonerations like Freddie Peacock’s

should lead to criminal justice reform

.

Gregory Taylor was freed in North Carolina last week after serving 17 years in prison for a crime he didn’t commit. 

The Associated Press chronicled his first day of freedom

.

And after Taylor was exonerated, the phones at the North Carolina Innocence Inquiry Commission started to

ring off the hook

, as other states sought information on reviewing possible wrongful convictions.

But despite increasing awareness, prisoners across the country continue to struggle in their quests for a new day in court.

The Wisconsin Innocence Project is

seeking a new trial

for client Terry Vollbrecht, who was convicted of a 1987 murder he says he didn’t commit.

A Louisiana judge

denied a new trial

this week for John Floyd, who is imprisoned for a 1980 murder he says he didn’t commit.  Floyd, 60, is represented by Innocence Project New Orleans.

The Georgetown Voice published a feature story this week

profiling the work of the Mid-Atlantic Innocence Project

in Washington, D.C.

Missourian Ken Kezer celebrated the

first anniversary

of the day he was freed from prison after serving 16 years for a crime evidence shows he didn’t commit.


Innocence Project Co-Director Peter Neufeld spoke

at the annual meeting of the American Society of Forensic Sciences this week in Seattle, and Texas State Senator (and Innocence Project Board Chair) Rodney Ellis received the

Champion of Justice Award

from the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers in Austin.

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