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Record Number of Exonerations Prompts Michigan AG to Create Conviction Integrity Unit
by Douglas Ankney
Few nightmares can equate with being an innocent person wrongly convicted and incarcerated.
Since innocence projects began appearing in the 1990s, dozens of prisoners in Michigan have been exonerated. In 2017 a record number—14—were exonerated, according to the National Registry of Exonerations. This prompted Michigan Attorney ...
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More from this issue:
- News in Brief
- Record Number of Exonerations Prompts Michigan AG to Create Conviction Integrity Unit, by Douglas Ankney
- $21 Million Settlement for Wrongfully Convicted Man Released After 39 Years in Prison, by Douglas Ankney
- Police, Prosecutor Misconduct Continues Unabated as Evidenced by Record Number of Exonerations in 2018, by Douglas Ankney
- Report: Google Can Track You Even When Your Phone’s Off, by Anthony Accurso
- New York Court of Appeals: Jury Trial Right Attaches to Deportable Crimes Punishable by Less Than Six Months in Jail, by David Reutter
- $270,000 Awarded to Grandmother Brutalized by Pennsylvania Cops, by Edward Lyon
- $1 Million Settlement for NYC Crime Lab Tech Who Blew Whistle on Use of Untested DNA Tests for Decades, by Edward Lyon
- Wisconsin Supreme Court Holds That Statute Doesn’t Require Habeas Petitioner to Plead Timeliness, Overruling Smalley v. Morgan, by Douglas Ankney
- Report Finds Lack of Reporting on Deaths in Law Enforcement Custody, Even After Landmark Legislation, by Steve Horn
- Study Details the Effect of Brain Scan Evidence on Sentencing, by Anthony Accurso
- NYC Program Helps Former Prisoners Realize Their Dream
- ‘They need to be marked for life’, by Sandy Rozek
- The FBI Polices Itself Like Kids Guarding a Candy Store, by Edward Lyon
- Fifth Circuit: Confrontation Clause Violated When Officer’s Testimony Relates Incriminating Information Received From Non-Testifying Informant, by Douglas Ankney
- Eighth Circuit Overlooks Procedural Default, Orders Immediate Release From Excessive ACCA Sentence Based on Prior Sex Offense, by Michael Berk
- New York City’s Bail Success Story, by Bill Barton
- Ninth Circuit: Running From Police Alone Doesn’t Give Rise to Reasonable Suspicion Justifying Stop and Frisk, by Douglas Ankney
- Georgia Supreme Court Announces New Evidence Code Abrogates Categorical Exclusionary Rule of Mallory, by Douglas Ankney
- Under Marsy’s Law, Police Using Violence Can Claim ‘Victim’ Status, by Edward Lyon
- Private Citizens Carrying Guns Commit Fewer Crimes Than Cops, by Douglas Ankney
- Massachusetts Supreme Court: Discharge From Civil Commitment Required When Examiners Conclude Defendant Is Not Sexually Dangerous, by Douglas Ankney
- FAMM, Washington Lawyers’ Committee, NACDL Launch Compassionate Release Clearinghouse
- Seventh Circuit Orders Grant of Successive § 2255 Motion and Resentencing in Pre-Booker Mandatory Guidelines Case Involving Elements Clause’s Definition of ‘Crime of Violence’, by Chad Marks
- West Virginia Supreme Court Announces Parole Eligibility Statute for Prisoners Who Committed Crimes as Minors is Retroactive, by Douglas Ankney
- California Supreme Court: Prop 47 Requires Dismissal of Conviction Based on a Predicate Felony That Is Later Reduced to a Misdemeanor, by Douglas Ankney
- Hawai’i Supreme Court Remands for Resentencing Where Circuit Court Considered Defendant’s Refusal to Admit Guilt in Imposing Consecutive Sentences, by Douglas Ankney
- Maryland Court of Appeals Rules That Courts Must Ask Non Compound ‘Strong Feelings’ Question Upon Request During Voir Dire, by Douglas Ankney
- Fourth Circuit: Cannot Substitute Career Offender Predicate on Collateral Review, by Anthony Accurso
- Court Extends McQuiggin Actual Innocence Exception to Defaulted Legal Claim, Vacates § 924(c) Conviction, by Dale Chappell
- Pennsylvania Supreme Court Holds Consent to Search Does Not Include K-9 Sniff When No K-9 Present When Consent Given and Wait 40 Minutes for Its Arrival, by Dale Chappell
- Fifth Circuit: Plain Error Requiring Resentencing Where Court Didn’t Give Defendant Chance to Speak at Sentencing Hearing and Prospective Allocution Provided Added Details to Lead Reasonable Judge to Reconsider Harsh Sentence, by Michael Berk
- Court Reporters Likely Fail to Accurately Transcribe Testimony for Speakers of ‘African American English’, by Anthony Accurso
- Bucklew v. Precythe, by Michael Avery
- From the Editor: Compassionate Release for Extraordinary and Compelling Reasons, by Richard Resch
- Parole a Detriment to Rehabilitation; ‘Less Is More’ Reform Sensible, by Kevin Bliss
- Minnesota Supreme Court Holds ‘Stalking-by-Mail’ and ‘Mail-Harassment’ Statutes are Facially Overbroad, by Douglas Ankney
- Fifth Circuit: Denial of Habeas Petition as Successive Reversed Where Second Petition Challenges a Separate Judgment, by Same Court, Not Covered in First Petition, by Chad Marks
- ‘DNA Mixtures,’ ‘Touch DNA,’ and Software-Enhanced Forensic DNA Analysis, by Michael Berk
- Sixth Circuit Holds Chalking Car Tires for Parking Enforcement Constitutes a Search Under Fourth Amendment, by Matthew Clarke
- SCOTUS Announces Death of ‘Categorical Approach’ by Invalidating 18 U.S.C. § 924(c)(3)(B) as Unconstitutionally Vague, by Richard Resch
- Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court: Consent to Search Does Not Attenuate Seized Evidence From Taint of Illegal Search of CSLI, by Douglas Ankney
- Exonerations: From Wrongful Conviction to Release and Beyond, by Edward Lyon
More from Douglas Ankney:
- Third Circuit Upholds Award of $265,000 to Prisoner Who Was Sexually Assaulted Twice by the Same Guard, Aug. 1, 2025
- Fifth Circuit Announces When Initial § 2255 Petition Not Decided on Merits and Appeals Court Later Recalls Mandate Dismissing Direct Appeal and Affirms Conviction, Subsequent § 2255 Petition Not ‘Second or Successive’ Under AEDPA, Aug. 1, 2025
- $340,000 for Former Massachusetts Prisoner Whose Baby Was Stillborn, July 15, 2025
- New Jersey Supreme Court Refuses Guard’s Challenge to Firing for Failing to Report Kiss with Prisoner, July 15, 2025
- New York City Loses Bid to Withhold Jail Records, July 15, 2025
- Eleventh Circuit Announces New Deliberate Indifference Framework in Dismissing Georgia Prisoner’s Claim for Skipped Anti-Seizure Meds, July 15, 2025
- Washington Jail Settles DOJ Allegations of ADA Noncompliance in Failure to Treat Opioid Use Disorder, July 15, 2025
- Ohio Supreme Court Says Sheriff Must Get and Disclose Records of Private Contractors, July 15, 2025
- Third Circuit Rejects U.S. Sentencing Commission Amended Compassionate Release Policy, July 15, 2025
- South Carolina Prisoners Granted Class-Action Status in Suit Over Low Wages in Prison Industries Jobs, July 15, 2025
More from these topics:
- Sixth Circuit Upholds $45 Million Verdict for Wrongfully Convicted Former Ohio Prisoner, Aug. 1, 2025. Police Misconduct, Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment.
- Two Exonerated Illinois Prisoners Win Settlements Totaling $14.5 Million, Aug. 1, 2025. Police Misconduct, Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment.
- Fourth Circuit Revives Wrongful Conviction Claim of Exonerated Maryland Prisoner, State Pays Him $3.1 Million, Aug. 1, 2025. Police Misconduct, Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment.
- Former Prisoner Informant Appointed Deputy Director of BOP, July 15, 2025. Prison Reform, Criminal justice system reform, Informants, War on Drugs, Pardons/Clemency, Bureau of Prisons (BOP), Trading Guns for Drugs.
- Trump Pardons Virginia Sheriff Convicted of a Bribes-for-Badges Scheme, July 15, 2025. Misconduct/Corruption, Pardons/Clemency, Bribery/Extortion/Theft.
- Tennessee Board of Parole Spanked for Failing to Make Recommendation to Governor on Prisoner’s Clemency Application, July 15, 2025. Parole Board Misconduct, Pardons/Clemency, Probation, Parole & Supervised Release, Release Decisions.
- $22.5 Million Verdict Arrives Too Late for Wrongfully Convicted Illinois Prisoner, July 15, 2025. Wrongful Conviction, Confessions - Coerced, Confessions and Statements of Defendant.
- $12 Million for Former California Prisoner Exonerated After 17 Years, July 15, 2025. Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment, Coercive Interrogations.
- $7.75 Million Settlement for Exonerated North Carolina Prisoner, June 1, 2025. Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment.
- $13 Million Awarded to Exonerated Massachusetts Prisoner for Wrongful Conviction, June 1, 2025. Wrongful Conviction, Wrongful Imprisonment.