Pennsylvania State Sen. Stewart J. Greenleaf, chair­man of the Senate Judiciary Committee, announced the for­ma­tion of an advi­so­ry com­mit­tee to exam­ine the cas­es of peo­ple who have been wrong­ly con­vict­ed in the state. The com­mis­sion will con­sist of about 30 mem­bers drawn from the state’s pros­e­cu­tors, defense attor­neys, judges, cor­rec­tions offi­cials, police, vic­tim advo­cates and oth­ers. The com­mis­sion will report its find­ings and rec­om­men­da­tions to the Senate by Nov. 30, 2008.

“[W]e’re find­ing peo­ple on death row and oth­er­wise who have been mis­tak­en­ly con­vict­ed of crimes,” Greenleaf said. ​“All too often, we for­get that jus­tice is also served when the inno­cent are acquitted.”

Among those exon­er­at­ed in the past was Nicholas Yarris, who became the first per­son freed from the state’s death row by DNA test­ing when he was released in January 2004. Yarris had spent 22 years in prison after he was con­vict­ed of the rape and mur­der.
(Associated Press, Nov. 28, 2006). See  Innocence and  Recent Legislation .
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