Talk:National Registry of Exonerations

Group exonerations included or not?

As of 2017-03-17, the opening paragraph claims, 'There are presently 1,857 cases listed on the registry.[1] An additional 1,170 other cases were identified but are not included in the count because these were "group exonerations" made after 13 major police misconduct scandals came to light.[2]'

However, [2] cites sources that seem to me to conflict on this point:

• The first source in [2] said, "The database ... focused on 873 individual cases. The researchers also identified 13 major police scandals that falsely netted 1,170 other people, although these are not included in the database ... . 873 + 1,170 = 2,043. This looks like the 1,170 were not included in the 1,857, and the increase from 873 to 1,857 were other individual cases. If that's true then the total number of people cleared would have been 1,857 + 1,170 = 3,027.
• The second source in [2] reported, 'All told, more than 2,000 exonerations have been identified since 1989. Many of these, totaling 1,170, involved individuals whose names were cleared in “group exonerations” after revelations of police corruption, including the plantings of guns and drugs.' This clearly states that the 1,170 were included in the 2,000.

As of 2017-03-17, the web site of the National Registry of Exonerations reports, "CURRENTLY 2,000 EXONERATIONS". The difference between 2,000 and 3,027 seems so large that it suggests a problem in the numbers someplace.

I will try to contact the said National Registry. Whether they respond or not, I hope that someone who knows can clarify this issue.

In addition, I think the lede should be rewritten to remove the word "presently": The statement that used that word may have been true when written but could be woefully out of date when it's read months or years later.

Thanks to all whose work brought this useful article to its present state. DavidMCEddy (talk) 15:45, 17 March 2017 (UTC)

References