Law, Business and Society 11th Edition by Tony McAdams

Exercise 45

The National Registry of Exonerations, a joint project of the University of Michigan Law School and Professor Samuel Gross of the University of Michigan Law School, shows that from January 1989 through January 2014, 1,304 convicted individuals were exonerated.55 In 2013, 87 exonerations were recorded; of these, 15 had pleaded guilty, 40 had been convicted of murder, and 18 had been convicted of rape or sexual assault.
a. The U.S. prison population has been estimated at approximately 2 million, generally viewed as the highest number of incarcerations in the world. In your opinion, what may the number of exonerations recorded in the National Registry of Exonerations compared to the U.S. prison population show about the U.S. criminal justice system Explain.
b. Trends of the National Registry of Exonerations show both an increase in the number of those exonerated who had pleaded guilty, as well as an increase in the investigations by law enforcement into possible false convictions. What conclusions might be drawn from these trends Explain.