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Back to To the Point

To the Point

How Many Innocent Americans Are Sitting in Jail?

Local district attorneys get re-elected for putting people in jail.  Now some prosecutors are part of a movement to get some inmates out.  An Ohio man who spent 39 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit is just one of 125 released last year — a record number of wrongful convictions.

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By Warren Olney • Feb 16, 2015 • 1 min read

Local district attorneys get re-elected for putting people in jail. Now some prosecutors are part of a movement to get some inmates out. An Ohio man who spent 39 years in prison for a murder he didn't commit is just one of 125 released last year — a record number of wrongful convictions. It's not just new evidence or witnesses changing their stories — it's also the pressure on innocent people to plead guilty. The Brooklyn DA now runs a "conviction review unit," part a new wave for exonerations.

  • https://images.ctfassets.net/2658fe8gbo8o/AvYox6VuEgcxpd20Xo9d3/769bca4fbf97bf022190f4813812c1e2/new-default.jpg?h=250

    Warren Olney

    former KCRW broadcaster

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    Evan George

    Director of Content, News

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    Sonya Geis

    Senior Managing Editor

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    Sáša Woodruff

    Producer, 'To the Point'

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    Maurice Possley

    National Registry of Exonerations

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    Ken Thompson

    District Attorney for Kings County, New York

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    JaneAnne Murray

    University of Minnesota Law School

    NewsNationalPolitics
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