Here are the top stories in criminal justice reform, taken from the Justice Newsladder.
James Lee Woodard was exonerated this week after spending 27 years in prison for his girlfriend's murder, becoming the 18th man to be exonerated in Dallas County by DNA testing. The case is the first of its kind because the DNA, taken from a semen stain, cleared Woodard of a rape but not the murder for which he was convicted. The conviction was not overturned until additional forensic analysis proved that the murder was committed by same perpetrator as the rape. (dallasobserver.com)
Woodard previously had a chance to be paroled if he would only admit guilt, but chose the truth over his freedom. (foxnews.com)
Woodard was convicted because of false eyewitness identification and exonerated by forensic evidence. The Asbury Park Press reports that jurors are demanding more forensic evidence and are less willing to rely on eyewitness testimony because of TV shows like "CSI." (app.com)
Before the week was out, Woodard would be joined by another death row exoneree. North Carolina prosecutors dropped murder charges against Levon "Bo" Jones after their star witness confessed to lying about Jones' involvement and that detectives had coached her on her testimony. Jones, also the victim of bad lawyering at his trial 14 years ago, is the 129th person exonerated from death row since 1973. Jones’ exoneration is also good news for codefendant Larry Lamb, who was convicted on the same false testimony. (newsobserver.com)
Lastly, The Tennessean argues that the Supreme Court's 7-2 ruling that found Kentucky's method of execution to be constitutional, it should not close the lid on the capital punishment debate. Kentucky uses the same three-drug lethal injection cocktail as other states that have the death penalty, and the ruling ended a six-month moratorium on executions nationwide. (tennessean.com)
The Justice Project, an organization which aims to address unfairness and inaccuracy in the American criminal justice system, is proud to sponsor the Justice Newsladder, a new tool to find the top news and articles about criminal justice reform.