Two dozen exon­er­at­ed ex-death row pris­on­ers from across the coun­try will hold a news con­fer­ence on October 31 in Austin to call for the estab­lish­ment of a statewide com­mis­sion on wrong­ful con­vic­tions and a mora­to­ri­um on exe­cu­tions in Texas. The 24 men spent a com­bined total of near­ly 200 years on death row before being freed. They will be joined by State Rep. Elliot Naishtat and for­mer Bexar County District Attorney Sam Millsap (pic­tured).

Texas has exe­cut­ed 417 peo­ple since the rein­state­ment of the death penal­ty, account­ing for 37 per­cent of all exe­cu­tions nation­wide, includ­ing 12 so far this year. An addi­tion­al 16 exe­cu­tions are sched­uled in Texas this fall and win­ter. Nine death row inmates have been exon­er­at­ed in Texas since 1973, includ­ing Michael Blair whose charges were dis­missed this year.

(Witness to Innocence Press Release, Oct. 27, 2008). See Innocence and Recent Legislation.

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