The Exoneration Initiative

06/17/2021

RIP - Hon. Jack B. Weinstein, who died at the age of 99 after standing up for the rights of the accused for over 50 years as a federal judge.

A respected federal judge slammed the NYPD Monday as plagued by "widespread falsification by arresting officers."

06/15/2021

Wrongful convictions are unjust. Neither individuals nor society can afford them. It has to stop!

At least 13 malicious prosecution cases are pending against the City of Philadelphia, while at least seven more exonerees are within the two-year statute of limitations to file such suits.

05/17/2021

Two years ago today, EXI exonerated John Bunn, who for 27 years was deprived of his liberty for a murder he did not commit. Other wrongfully convicted individuals remain behind bars and desperately need help.

John Bunn was exonerated after 27 years of fighting for his freedom. He says the power of reading saved him. Now, he's building libraries in prisons.

05/10/2021

Like men, women are victims of wrongful conviction. In addition to the hardships of incarceration that men endure, women face unique difficulties. For example, they may be forced to find caretakers for their children, give birth in jail, and prematurely separate from a newborn baby. EXI acknowledges wrongfully convicted mothers yesterday, today, and every day. 💘

Jacqueline Williams, Co-Founder and Development Director of the Michigan Prison Doula Initiative, describes the role of this organization in the network of care for incarcerated pregnant women and reminds us that it doesn’t take much for this to happen to anyone.

05/04/2021

The more sunlight a criminal investigation sees, the less likely it is to be plagued by misconduct, misjudgement, and mistake.

The question of timing has become an unsettled new frontier of policymaking as the use of police body cameras is more the rule rather than the exception.

03/02/2021

Former MD Gov. Glendening writes about his big mistake - a "life means life" parole policy. "Most Marylanders serving life sentences are Black, and many are geriatric or otherwise medically vulnerable. In this era, there can be no real doubt that it is time to finally change this structural flaw of our parole system."

Read more:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/03/01/i-made-serious-mistake-maryland-governor-we-need-parole-reform/

02/23/2021

"The deep freeze has been terrible for many Texans, but prisoners have little way to get warm. At the Polunsky Unit in Livingston, Texas, prisoners have told their families that they have gathered snow into buckets so that they can flush dorm toilets." - The Marshall Project. Read more: https://bit.ly/3aO1wAM
Image Credit: Bob Owen/Houston Chronicle, via Associated Press

02/16/2021

The Bronx District Attorney's Conviction Integrity Unit is looking into detectives’ tactics in 31 homicide cases that relied on confessions. At EXI, we know the criminal justice system fails innocent people when police and prosecutors rely on false confessions, unreliable eyewitness identifications, and jailhouse informant testimony. Read more here: https://nyti.ms/2Zm1fP9

Image: Huwe Burton poses for a portrait at Bryant Park in 2019. Credit - Elias Williams for The New York Times

02/08/2021

February is and an important time to acknowledge that wrongful convictions reflect and exaggerate the racism in American society. Black people are only 13% of the American population but they represent 49% of total exonerations. A recent study by The National Registry of Exonerations found Black defendants are more likely than White defendants to be subject to police and prosecutorial misconduct. At EXI, 80% of our exonerees are black men. Read more here: https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/government-corruption-negligence-drive-most-wrongful-convictions-report-finds-n1240071
Image by Anuj Shrestha / for NBC News.

12/31/2020

For the last days of 2020, EXI is sharing the story of one of our exonerees every day. Today, we are highlighting John Bunn.

John was exonerated in May 2018 after serving 16 years for a wrongful conviction for murder and assault. John was only 14 when the now infamous Detective Louis Scarcella framed him for killing an off duty corrections officer. Although John didn’t match the physical description of the shooter and there was no physical evidence linking him to the crime, he was convicted and sentenced to seven years to life in prison.

“The findings of this court are that the assigned Detective, Louis Scarcella, was at the time of the investigation engaged in false and misleading practices,” Justice Simpson declared. Justice Simpson noted that Scarcella’s cases demonstrated a “pattern and practice” of misconduct that showed “a disregard for rules, law and the truth.”

Since his exoneration, John founded A Voice 4 the Unheard, a nonprofit committed to providing books to prisoners and underserved communities. The nonprofit has refurbished libraries, held book drives, empowered the youth with literature and more to promote the power of literacy.

12/30/2020

For the last days of 2020, EXI is sharing the story of one of our exonerees every day. Today, we are highlighting Edward Garry.

In February of 2018, EXI secured the acquittal and complete exoneration of Edward in the 1995 murder of a retired Bronx police detective. Despite a case predicated on a false identification and one in which the actual shooter confessed and accomplices—who had escaped justice for years—came forward and exculpated Edward (one of the detectives who arrested Garry in 1995 even testified on his behalf), the Bronx District Attorney’s Office insisted on retrying the case after EXI had secured a new trial for Edward. When EXI obtained a full acquittal in 2018, it took the jury only 30 minutes to decide, ending almost a quarter century of injustice.

Sadly, Edward passed away in April 2020. We are thankful he got to experience freedom, but it was too little, and too late.

12/29/2020

For the last days of 2020, EXI is sharing the story of one of our exonerees every day. Today, we are highlighting Selwyn Days.

Selwyn was exonerated in 2018 after serving 17 years for a murder he didn’t commit. Selwyn — who is intellectually disabled — was interrogated for hours, most of which was not recorded, until he falsely confessed. Almost immediately after confessing to the crime, Selwyn recanted and said he had nothing to do with the murders.

Eventually, witnesses were discovered who testified that Selwyn was in North Carolina at the time of the crime. It took five trials to finally prove Selwyn’s innocence of this crime. On September 12, 2017, after one day of deliberations, the jury acquitted Selwyn and he was released.

Selwyn told a reporter, "I feel bad for what happened to (the slaying victims) but now everyone knows I didn't do this."