© 1998-2015 The Justice Institute -- (Justice Denied is a trade name of The Justice Institute)

© 1998-2023 The Justice Institute -- (Justice Denied is a trade name of The Justice Institute)

2017 Innocents Database Exoneration Report

The 2017 Innocents Database Exoneration Report is available online. The Report is a PDF document. Click here to read the 2017 Innocents Database Exoneration Report online, or download it.

The following is from the Report’s Introduction:

There were 21,831 known exonerations in the United States in 2017, and 99,219 known exonerations in other countries. That is a total of 121,050 known exonerations worldwide.

This is the third yearly report of information recorded in the Innocents Database through the last calendar year – 2017. The Innocents Database is an ongoing independent non-profit project begun in February 1997. The IDb is the world’s only database that records every documentable exoneration in the United States and every other country.

The database includes references to 27,303 U.S. cases and 102,307 international cases concluded through December 31, 2017: a total of 129,610 cases from 120 countries.

The Innocents Database is online at,

www.justicedenied.org/exonerations.htm, and it can be accessed from Justice Denied’s website at www.justicedenied.org. This Report is compiled from information available in the database online.

Since the Innocents Database was founded there has been a continuing increase in the reporting of recent cases in accessible digital form. Finding and identifying contemporary cases is less challenging than 1995 cases, much less cases in 1985 or 1975.

Nevertheless, the 27,303 U.S. cases listed in the database through 2017 – 26,368 cases from 1989 to 2017 and 935 cases prior to 1989 – provide data that can be useful to make general observations and identify possible trends. 1989 is used as a quasi demarcation because the first DNA exoneration in the U.S. was in 1989. Internationally the first exoneration was in Canada in 1992.

The Report includes 30 tables of data, eight charts, and two maps. Many of the 30 tables include information about U.S. cases for both the years 1989 to 2017, and pre-1989, and several include information about international cases. The tables are:

Table 1. Known Exonerations By Year (U.S. & Int.)

Table 2. Number of Exonerated People By State

Table 3. Number of Exonerated People By Jurisdiction  (U.S.)

Table 4. Number of Exonerated People By Sex/Type  (U.S.)

Table 5. Number of Exonerated People By Type of Crime  (U.S.)

Table 6. Number of Exonerated People by Race/Ethnicity  (U.S.)

Table 7. Number of Exonerated People By Primary Types of Exculpatory Evidence  (U.S.)

Table 8. Number of Exonerated People By Conviction Method  (U.S.)

Table 9. Number of Exonerated People Convicted After More Than One Trial  (U.S.)

Table 10. Number of State Prisoners Exonerated After Federal Habeas Granted  (U.S.)

Table 11. Number of Exonerated People Convicted By Primary Types of Prosecution Evidence  (U.S.)

Table 12. Number of Exonerated People By Method of Exoneration (U.S.)

Table 13. Number of Exonerated Persons Involved In A Case With A Co-Defendant  (U.S.)

Table 14. Number of Exonerations Involving DNA Evidence By Year (U.S. & Int.)

Table 15. Number of Exonerations That Involved Conviction Integrity Unit  (U.S.)

Table 16. Number of Exonerations Due To Original Investigation By Conviction Integrity Unit  (U.S.)

Table 17. Number of Exonerated People By Years In Custody (U.S.)

Table 18. Average Years Exonerated Person Was In Custody Before Release (ALL crimes) (U.S. & Int.)

Table 19. Avg. Years Exonerated Person Is In Custody Before Release (ALL violent crimes (U.S. & Int.)

Table 20. Avg.Years Exonerated Person Is In Custody Before Release (NON-violent crimes (U.S. & Int.)

Table 21. Average Years Exonerated Person Was In Custody Before Release (Homicide or Sexual Assault only) (U.S. & Int.)

Table 22. Average Years Exonerated Person Was In Custody Before Release (Non-Homicide or Sexual Assault crimes of violence only) (U.S. & Int.)

Table 23. Average Age Exonerated Person Was Taken Into Custody For Crime of Violence  (U.S. & Int.)

Table 24. Average Age Exonerated Person Was Taken Into Custody For Non-Violent Crime (U.S. & Int.)

Table 25. Average Age Of Person When Exonerated (ALL crimes) (U.S. & Int.)

Table 26. Number of Exonerated People By County (12 or more) (U.S.)

Table 27. Number of Exonerated People By Country – International Cases

Table 28. Number of Exonerated People By Type of Crime  (International)

Table 29. Number of Exonerated People By Method of Exoneration (International)

Table 30. Number of Exonerated Persons Involved In A Case With A Co-Defendant  (International)

Click here to read the 2017 Innocents Database Exoneration Report online, or to download it.

© 1998-2015 The Justice Institute -- (Justice Denied is a trade name of The Justice Institute)

© 1998-2023 The Justice Institute -- (Justice Denied is a trade name of The Justice Institute)