Home : Death Penalty : Innocence

The administration of the death penalty is fraught with error and results in the conviction and execution of the innocent. To date, 130 death-row inmates have been exonerated in the modern death penalty era. Michael Blair of Texas became the 130th person exonerated from death row when all charges against him were dismissed on September 16, 2008. The most recent North Carolina exoneree was ACLU Capital Punishment Project client Levon "Bo" Jones, on May 2, 2008. Strong evidence has also emerged that seven men have been executed despite their innocence.

Innocent North Carolina Man Exonerated After 14 Years On Death Row
On May 2, 2008, the District Attorney of North Carolina's Duplin County dropped all charges against Levon "Bo" Jones, who has spent the last 14 years of his life on the state's death row after being wrongfully convicted for the 1987 murder of Leamon Grady. A federal judge ordered Jones off death row in 2006 and overturned his conviction, declaring that Jones' initial defense attorneys missed critical evidence pointing to his innocence. Learn More >>

John Holdridge: Number of Innocents on Death Row Mandates Moratorium
The ACLU's Capital Punishment Project Director debunks an Oregon prosecutor's claim that the majority of death row exonerees are not actually innocent and calls for a moratorium on executions until the criminal justice system can ensure that it is not killing the innocent.
Read the Huffington Post article >>

DNA Testing Isn't Enough to Protect the Innocent
While DNA testing has exonerated a lot of prisoners locked up for crimes they didn't commit, it isn't a fail-safe that will prevent the innocent from being executed. Capital Punishment Project Director John Holdridge wrote about why further measures must be taken to overhaul the justice system's prosecution of defendants in the Newark Star-Ledger on July 18, 2007. Read the article >>

Brief Filed in Soffar v. State of Texas
Prevented from fully presenting the evidence in his defense, Max Soffar's retrial was grossly and fundamentally unfair. It was also thoroughly inconsistent with constitutional, statutory and common law mandates. The ACLU is calling for reversal. Read more >>

Commission In Pennsylvania Will Examine Exoneration Cases
According to the Associated Press, a commission in Pennsylvania will examine the cases of the wrongly convicted in that state. The commission will report its findings and recommendations to the state Senate by Nov. 30, 2008. Six death-row inmates have been exonerated in Pennsylvania since 1973. Among them was Nicholas Yarris, who was released in January 2004 after spending 22 years in prison for a rape and murder that he did not commit. Read more about the commission from the ACLU of Pennsylvania >>

Report
Read the Death Penalty Information Center's report, "Innocence and the Crisis In the American Death Penalty" (off-site)

Innocent North Carolina Man Exonerated After 14 Years On Death Row (05/02/2008)
KENANSVILLE, NC – An innocent man who spent 14 years on North Carolina's death row after being wrongfully convicted for a 1987 murder will be released from prison today. Jones has been represented by American Civil Liberties Union Capital Punishment Project lawyers Cassandra Stubbs and Brian Stull, along with North Carolina attorney Ernest "Buddy" Connor.

ACLU and Texas Innocence Network Appeal Innocent Man's Death Sentence Based On Unfair Trial (10/24/2007)
AUSTIN, TX -- At a hearing today before the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals, the American Civil Liberties Union and the Texas Innocence Network (TIN) argued that death row inmate Max Soffar was unfairly prevented from proving his innocence at his second trial in 2006. The groups hope to overturn Soffar's conviction in the capital murder case of four victims shot during an armed robbery in a Houston bowling alley in 1980. In 1981, Soffar was convicted and sentenced to death, but a federal court overturned his conviction in 2004 because his trial lawyers failed to argue that Soffar's confession contradicted the account of the sole surviving witness and other reliable evidence in the case. The state of Texas retried Soffar last year and he was again convicted and sentenced to death.

High Court Halts Execution of Texas Death Row Prisoner, Saying Prosecutors Violated Ethical Duties (02/24/2004)
WASHINGTON - The United States Supreme Court today halted the scheduled execution of death row prisoner Delma Banks, Jr., saying that Banks was denied a fair trial 20 years ago when prosecutors withheld crucial exculpatory evidence from the defense.

Citing "Undue Risk" of Executing Innocents, Court Declares Federal Death Penalty Unconstitutional (07/01/2002)
NEW YORK-The American Civil Liberties Union today applauds U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff for declaring that the federal death penalty is unconstitutional because it creates ""an undue risk of executing innocent people.""

ACLU Urges Legislation to Prevent Wrongful Conviction of Innocents (06/18/2002)
WASHINGTON - The American Civil Liberties Union today urged committees in both the House and Senate to support and quickly pass legislation designed to reduce the risk of innocent persons being wrongfully convicted or sentenced to death in America.

The average number of executions per exoneration (02/06/2004)
A look at the proportional number of exonerations to executions

Mentally Retarded Death Row Exonerations (12/09/2003)

A Question of Innocence (12/09/2003)

DNA Testing and the Death Penalty (06/26/2002)

State of North Carolina v. Jones - Motion to Dismiss (04/14/2008)

State of North Carolina v. Jones - Affidavit/Recantation of Lovely Lorden (12/05/2007)

Soffar v. State of Texas: Brief (05/14/2007)

Jones v. Polk - Order (09/26/2006)

ACLU Letter to the House Judiciary Committee Expressing Concerns about HR 3214, the Advancing Justice through DNA Technology Act of 2003 (10/08/2003)

LCCR Letter to the Senate on the Innocence Protection Act of 2001 (06/21/2002)

State of North Carolina v. Jones - Statement of Cassandra Stubbs, Staff Attorney, ACLU Capital Punishment Project (05/05/2008)

State of North Carolina v. Jones - Statement of Attorney Ernest Conner (05/05/2008)

State of North Carolina v. Jones - Statement of Brian Stull, Staff Attorney, ACLU Capital Punishment Project (05/05/2008)

State of North Carolina v. Jones - Statement of Levon "Bo" Jones (04/14/2008)

Soffar v. State of Texas - Overview (05/22/2007)
Max Soffar has been on Texas's death row for more than twenty-five years for a crime he did not commit.The ACLU Capital Punishment Project and the Texas Innocence Network represent Mr. Soffar on direct appeal to the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals.

State of North Carolina v. Jones (04/14/2008)
Innocent North Carolina Man Exonerated After 14 Years On Death Row

Soffar v. State of Texas (04/30/2007)
Texas Sentences to Death an Innocent Man, the ACLU Appeals