How many people in Illinois have been exonerated?
You can look on the Death Penalty Information Center for the latest number. Last time I looked, we’ve executed 1500 people and exonerated 108–that means legally absolved. There are also dozens and dozens of cases where the charges were resolved without a formal finding that they were baseless. I’ve never been under the illusion that everybody on death row is innocent-far from it. My own guess is upwards of 90 percent are guilty. But a ten percent error rate if that’s what it is, or even five percent, is really way too high. Have you met any of the death row inmates who have been exonerated and released? Sure, many of them. I’m always amazed at how forgiving they are. It really varies from guy to guy. A lot of them develop a sense of religious belief. Imagine if you were sitting in a prison cell for ten years, asking.”Why is this happening?” You’ve got to believe that somebody has a reason for this, and it’s certainly not a human one. But both the degree of recovery and range of respon
