National Registry of Exonerations’ Annual Report Finds Majority of Exonerees are People of Color and Official Misconduct is the Main Cause of Wrongful Convictions

This week, The National Registry of Exonerations published its annual report on exonerations that took place in 2023. According to the report, “The Registry recorded 153 exonerations last year, and nearly 84% (127/153) were people of color. Nearly 61 percent of the exonerees (93/153) were Black,” while the most frequent factor in their wrongful conviction was official misconduct. “Seventy-five homicide cases—85% of homicide exonerations in 2023—were marred by official misconduct.” Three out of four death row exonerees were people of color, and in all instances, official misconduct was the main factor.

Official misconduct, which can encompass falsifying evidence, coercing witnesses, and withholding exculpatory information—poses various challenges to the criminal justice system, most importantly in the way it affects public confidence in the integrity of its justice system and elected officials. Inadequate legal defense, mistaken witness identification, and perjury or false accusation are also causes of wrongful conviction. 

Each exoneration represents a human being who lost years and sometimes decades of their lives behind bars while the guilty party remained free to possibly commit other crimes. Many states now have statutes that provide some recompense; since 1989, nearly $4 billion in compensation has been paid to wrongfully convicted persons. The amount has almost doubled since 2019. The authors note that there are disparities in compensation that will prompt future research. “Why […] are payments so much greater in New York than in other states—$6 million on average for all exonerees, compared to $1.8 million in Illinois and $1.2 million in Texas? And why did 79% of all exonerees receive some compensation in Illinois, but only 33% in Texas?” 

In 2023, the four-death row exonerees were John Huffington, Jesse Johnson, Glynn Simmons, and Noel Montalvo. The number of years between conviction and exoneration was 48 for Mr. Glynn Simmons (the longest number of years before an exoneration in U.S. history), 42 for Mr. Huffington, 20 for Mr. Montalvo, and 19 for Mr. Johnson. The report notes that for all exonerees, “People exonerated in 2023 lost 2,230 years collectively for crimes they did not commit. That is an average of 14.6 years per exoneree for wrongful imprisonment.”

Among the 153 exonerations (total) that took place within 32 states (there were no federal exonerations), the largest number occurred in Illinois (24), followed by Texas (22), New York (21), and Pennsylvania (16).

The National Registry of Exonerations is a consortium of three universities: the University of Michigan Law School, Michigan State University College of Law, and the University of California Irvine Newkirk Center for Science and Society.

You can access the report here.

DPIC also maintains a comprehensive database and other resources on death penalty exonerations and innocence cases.