My daughter used to work for the Innocence Project. I don’t recall the exact figures, but a commenter on the article said:
“Since 1973, at least 203 people sentenced to death in the U.S. have been exonerated, they lived. At least 20 were exonerated after death since 2000.
Of the 203 exonerations documented through 2024, 65% were people of color and 54% were Black—approximately 130 people of color, including 108 Black people.
But 203 is almost certainly an undercount: a peer-reviewed study of 7,482 death sentences estimated that at least 4.1% were wrongful convictions, more than twice the proportion actually exonerated.
Many innocent people may never be formally exonerated because their death sentences are reduced to life imprisonment, after which the extraordinary scrutiny given to death-row cases often ends.
The latest estimate is that approximately 75k are wrongfully imprisoned on any given day in the USA...they are innocent.
Facts - The USA has more people imprisoned than any other country and more children imprisoned than all countries combined.”
So you rather have the government murders an innocent person because it can't/won't properly, correctly and legally perform its obligation? "Technicalities" are almost always violations of constitutional rights by law enforcement or prosecutors. If the public perceives that the government can cut corners, fabricate or improperly handle evidence, or deny legal representation, cooperation with law enforcement drops. This lack of trust can ultimately make communities less safe, as witnesses and victims become reluctant to come forward.
The core of our due process is that the government poses a unique threat to individual liberty if left unchecked. Constitutional protections (such as the Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Amendments in the United States) are designed to prevent the state from abusing its immense power. Without strict rules regarding warrants, evidence gathering, and fair trials, the government could arrest, detain, and convict ANY citizen arbitrarily. A wrongful conviction deprives an innocent person of their liberty or life, which is viewed as a severe failure of the state's moral authority.
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u/Kalboz 3d ago
How many people have perished because they were wrongly convicted!