A report from the National Registry of Exonerations revealed that in 2013, at least 87 people were exonerated—the highest annual figure in the past 25 years. The report also broke the numbers down, and detailed analysis revealed that there isn't much to celebrate:
Twenty-seven of the 87 known exonerations that occurred in 2013—almost a third of the total—were in cases in which no crime in fact occurred. This is a record number that is likely to grow as we learn about more 2013 exonerations. Almost half of these no-crime exonerations were for non-violent crimes, primarily drug convictions.
As Gawker notes, the report points out that murder and assault convictions make up for most of the exonerations because the resources available to revisit old cases typically focuses on those with the heaviest penalties.
Furthermore, everyone exonerated last year was convicted 12 years earlier, "on average." Some were convicted up to 30 years prior. Glorify that if you want to.
[via Gawker]
