Black people more likely to be wrongfully convicted of murder

A study shows that black people are significantly more likely than their white counterparts to be convicted of a crime only to later be found innocent.

Luther Vandross was outed as gay after his death.

A recent review of almost 2,000 exonerations nationwide, over the span of three decades, has shown that black people are significantly more likely than their white counterparts to be convicted of sexual assault or murder only to later be found innocent.

The review, conducted by the National Registry of Exonerations and released on Tuesday, also found that black people have to wait significantly longer in order to clear their names as compared to their white counterparts when wrongfully convicted.

“It’s no surprise that in this area, as in almost any other that has to do with criminal justice in the United States, race is the big factor,” said Samuel R. Gross, a University of Michigan law professor and a senior editor of the registry.

For example, in the case of murder, black defendants make up 40 percent of convictions but 50 percent of wrongful convictions, as opposed to 36 percent of whites who are wrongfully convicted. Similarly, 59 percent of exonerations for sexual assault were for black defendants, and 34 percent were for white defendants.

What’s more, misconduct was present in more cases involving black defendants than in cases with white defendants, at a rate of 76 percent compared to 63 percent in murder cases and 79 percent as compared to 51 percent for sexual assault.

 

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