New Projects Tackle Non-DNA Cases

The 232 DNA exonerations in the United States have revealed fissures in our criminal justice system that are simply too big to ignore. The experience of these exonerations have also made another fact extremely clear: there are countless people behind bars in our country for crimes they didn’t commit, and most of them don’t have DNA evidence to test.

Experts estimate that only 5 to 10 percent of criminal cases in the U.S. involve biological evidence, and there is consensus that proving innocence on appeal without the scientific proof of DNA results can be an uphill battle. A story in yesterday’s New York Times explored new efforts around the country to focus on innocence cases without the possibility of DNA testing, and found a growing group of projects and initiatives – many of them members of the

Innocence Network

.

Among the organizations mentioned are a new group in New York called the

Exoneration Initiative

and Innocence Network members

Ohio Innocence Project

,

Wisconsin Innocence Project

and the

Center on Wrongful Convictions

. James McCloskey, the founder of New Jersey-based

Centurion Ministries

, which works on both DNA and non-DNA cases, said:

“All these hundreds of DNA exonerations across the country have demonstrated to anyone who’s paying attention that there are far more innocent people in prison than anybody could imagine.”

Read the full story here

. (New York Times, 2/8/09)