Data Journalism Assignment: Innocent People Released from Death Row
The crackdown on crime of the 1980’s led to an increase in the number of innocent people sentenced to death in the United States. Within this population of innocents on death row, there was a disproportionately larger number of African Americans, more than any other race.
The 1980’s were a time of growing fear over crime in the United States. As a result, there was a massive crackdown on crime. At the same time, there was a huge rise in the number of innocent people convicted and put on death row. From the 1960s to the 1980s, there was a 15 times increase in the number of innocent people on death row (Figure 1).
Figure 1. The following data displays that there was a significant rise in the number of innocent people being convicted for heinous crimes and sentenced to death.
Of all the innocents on death row, most were male and over half were African American. The number of African Americans on death row is noticeably greater than any other race (Figure 2). These data also reveal that of the 165 innocent people put on death row between 1960 and the early 2000’s, 85, or just over 50%, were African American. Caucasians are the second highest-ranking group of innocents convicted with 37%, followed by Latinos with just under 10%
Figure 2. The percentage of innocent death row inmates for different races.
Glen Ford is one of many cases of a black man wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death in the 1980’s. In 1984 Ford was accused of murdering a man by the name of Isador Rozeman. Ford was found guilty by a jury made up of only white people. After serving 30 years on death row, Ford was eventually released in 2009 after taking his case back to court. His defense showed strong evidence that Ford was not present at the time of the crime. Ford’s case is horrific, however, it is not unique. Over 150 of people in the 1980’s were being convicted for crimes they did not commit, over half of them being African American.
Figure 3. The percentage of innocent death row inmates released for various reasons.
There are three possible reasons for the release of these innocent individuals. The first is that the charges were dismissed completely before the case even went to court. The second was that the case was acquitted, meaning the individual was found not guilty in court. And third was that the individual was pardoned meaning the president or governor pardoned the individual for his/her crime. The data revealed that of the 165 people, 107 of them were released after bringing their case back to court and the judge finding enough evidence of their innocence to dismiss the case completely. (Figure 3)
The rise of DNA testing has played a significant role in the release of innocents on death row. 20 people were found innocent through DNA testing of the 165 released. Although this number does not sound particularly large, we should not forget that this means 20 innocent human beings, who would have otherwise been killed, were released and compensated thanks to the development of DNA testing.
Sources →
1. https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2014/03/freedom-after-30-years-on-death-row/284179
2. https://deathpenaltyinfo.org/innocence-list-those-freed-death-row