A new study shows that about four percent of death row inmates are likely innocent. Veronica Rueckert and Rob Ferrett talk to the lead author on this study about how he came to his conclusions and the implications of these numbers. Then they discuss the new White House report on climate change and learn how to appropriately use gender pronouns in our weekly Teach Me What You Know segment.
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Study Says 4 Percent Of Death Row Inmates Are Wrongly Convicted
A new study from the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science estimates that at least 4 percent of all inmates sentenced to death are probably innocent — a finding that comes after a botched execution attempt in Oklahoma last week re-ignited debate about capital punishment in America.
Samuel Gross, a professor of law at the University of Michigan and lead author of the study, calls the 4 percent estimate “conservative.”
“It doesn’t take into account the exonerations that will never be found at the end of the day,” he said.
Gross also said it doesn’t account for other cases where the person is very likely to be innocent, but pled guilty in order to receive a lesser sentence.
To find the 4 percent number, Gross and his colleagues looked at people who had been sentenced to death between 1973 and 2004 who had then gone on to be exonerated. That gave some information, but left gaps in the overall picture. To help account for the gaps, Gross and his colleagues used a statistical method called “survival analysis,” which controls for “the fact that not all defendants had been on death row long enough for exoneration to work,” he said.
Specifically, many defendants leave death row when they are re-sentenced to life in prison after spending time on death row. This complicates estimating rates of false convictions, since according to Gross, “very few people are exonerated after they’re moved from death row.”
On the other hand, when an inmate is facing imminent execution, then the system swings into action and time and resources are expended to verify a person’s guilt.
The researchers therefore used survival analysis to model a system in which people sentenced to death stayed on death row indefinitely. Once they did that, they were able to estimate that 4.1 percent of those people would be exonerated.
The 4 percent number of false death row convictions might seem high, but Gross is careful to emphasize that it’s an estimate — and one that seems to him a reasonable number.
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Study: 4% Of Death Row Inmates Are Likely Innocent
According to new study, about 4% of death row inmates are likely innocent, raising new questions over capital punishment. The lead author of the study discusses how he arrived at that number, and the implications of it.
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New White House Climate Change Report Has Dire Predictions
Today the White House released the Third U.S. National Climate Assessment, and it paints a bleak picture of our planet’s future. One of the report’s lead authors explains how conclusions were reached and what we can do to help prevent climate change.
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Teach Me What You Know: How To Use Gender Pronouns Appropriately
Some people don’t feel that traditional gender pronouns, like she or he, fit their gender identities. We ask an expert how to appropriately address transgender, genderqueer and other gender-variant people.
Episode Credits
- Rob Ferrett Host
- Veronica Rueckert Host
- Samuel Gross Guest
- Katharine Hayhoe Guest
- Ryan Adserias Guest
- Chris Malina Producer
- Amanda Magnus Producer
- Marika Suval Producer
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