Larry Marshall, a professor at Northwestern University School of Law and the Director of The Center on Wrongful Convictions, believes 5 to 10% of the prisoners on death row may be innocent. Why are innocent people being wrongly sentenced, and what changes can be made to the system?

DNA Testing
Currently, only Illinois and New York give death row inmates the right to DNA testing.
Larry Marshall proposes The Innocence Protection Act of 2000, which would make DNA testing available throughout the country, for any inmate on death row. This Act is now under consideration in the U.S. Congress.

Racial Bias
A Chicago Tribune investigation reports that in Illinois at least 35 black prisoners on death row were convicted or condemned by an all-white jury.

Legal Incompetence
That same investigation reports that at least 33 Illinois death row inmates were represented by attorneys who were later disbarred or suspended.
According to the investigation, in at least 46 death penalty cases, the prosecution's evidence included testimony that was taken from jailhouse informants—a notoriously unreliable source.
Marshall suggests looking at the lessons learned from these cases. He points out a large percentage of eyewitness identifications are erroneous, and most often times jailhouse informants are unreliable. The death penalty should not be considered when this kind of evidence is involved.

Finally, Larry Marshall says we need to rethink the death penalty. He asks, "Is the risk of putting innocent people to death really worth it?"

Justice Gerald Kogan, a former Florida State Supreme Court Justice, has worked on more than 1,200 death penalty cases, as a judge, a prosecutor, and a defense attorney. During his years on the Supreme Court, 28 executions were carried out. He says he has "grave doubts" about 3 of those cases. After 40 years of experience, he believes innocent people are convicted every day.

Changes Being Made
Since the death penalty was reinstated in Illinois in 1977, 12 men have been executed. During that same period, 13 innocent men were freed from death row. That news prompted Republican Governor George Ryan to announce a moratorium on executions in his state. In January 2000, Governor Ryan stated, "Until I can be sure to say with moral certainty that no innocent man or woman is facing a lethal injection, no one will meet that fate."

Visit the website of the Center on Wrongful Convictions at www.law.northwestern.edu/depts/clinic/wrongfu