An analysis of race and wrongful conviction within the United States National Registry of Exonerations
The pursuit of justice is a fundamental pillar of the United States legal system, aiming to hold accountability for the guilty and protection of the innocent. However, the justice system design induces wrongful convictions through eyewitness misidentification, false or misleading forensic evidence, perjury, official misconduct, and inadequate legal defense. The consequences of wrongful conviction are serious and often irreversible, resulting in loss of liberty and damage to the reputation of individuals and their families. Increased scrutiny of criminal cases and efforts of dedicated legal advocates have facilitated the exoneration (reversal of conviction and clearing of charges) of numerous individuals who were unjustly convicted. Exoneration brings attention to shortcomings of the criminal justice system and consideration of innocents who are currently imprisoned. The National Registry of Exonerations is a project from the University of California, Irvine; University of Michigan; and Michigan State University which gathers detailed information on every exoneration in the United States since 1989. Their extensive registry includes personal demographics and describes criminal sentences, time served, and pathway to exoneration. This wealth of information allows researchers, policymakers, legal practitioners, and the public to analyze trends, identify systemic issues within the criminal justice system, and advocate for reforms aimed at preventing future wrongful convictions.
In collaboration with Cindy Elder and Dr. Nayak L Pollisar at the University of Washington, we examine the National Registry of Exonerations from the University of Michigan to analyze individuals exonerated in the United States since 1989 through descriptive statistics and statistical modeling. This document and our work are in progress.
This preceeding work aimed to describe univariate and intersectional profiles of sex, race, age (at conviction), and (alleged) crime. We also sought to visualize compare distributions of age at events (alleged crime, conviction, release, exoneration) by race.
This new work aims to study causes of wrongful convictions and explore associations with official misconduct, again with considerations of race and profiles we have found in our preliminary work.
Please contact Alejandro Hernandez at alejh@uw.edu for further information.