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The National Registry of Exonerations 2014

Report – 2014 was a record breaking year for exonerations in the United States, by a large margin. The National Registry of Exonerations has recorded 125 exonerations in 2014. The previous highest total was 91 in 2012 and again in 2013 , followed by 87 in 2001. All told, the Registry now lists 1,535 exonerations in the United States, from 1989 through January 20, 2015. The magnitude of the difference between 2014 and prior years–a 37% increase over 2012 and 2013–is largely driven by a concentration of 33 exonerations in drug cases in Harris County (Houston) Texas, 30 more than there were in that county in 2013. But 2014 was a record year even without Harris County; there were 91 non-Harris County exonerations in 2014, compared to 88 in 2012 and 87 in 2013. A major reason for the record number of exonerations is the impact of prosecutorial Conviction Integrity Units (CIUs). The number of CIUs and the number of exonerations they generated increased dramatically in 2014. There were 49 CIU exonerations in 2014, including 10 murder exonerations in Brooklyn, and 29 of the 33 Harris County drug-crime exonerations we already mentioned.”

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