Wrongful Execution Statistics

Key Takeaways

• 12,200 people have been exonerated in the United States since 1989 (as of the Exonerations List total shown on The National Registry of Exonerations)
• 2The National Registry of Exonerations reports 178 exonerations in 2023
• 3The National Registry of Exonerations reports 193 exonerations in 2022
• 4The National Registry of Exonerations states that 22% of exonerations since 1989 involved mistaken eyewitness identification
• 5The National Registry of Exonerations states that 12% of exonerations since 1989 involved false confessions
• 6The National Registry of Exonerations states that 24% of exonerations since 1989 involved forensic error
• 7The National Registry of Exonerations reports 1,595 DNA exonerations since 1989
• 8The National Registry of Exonerations reports 44% of exonerations since 1989 involved DNA evidence
• 9The National Registry of Exonerations reports 1,032 exonerations based on a flawed forensic science (as shown in the “Forensic Science” subsection)
• 10The National Registry of Exonerations reports that the median time served before exoneration is 11 years
• 11The National Registry of Exonerations reports that the average time served before exoneration is 14 years
• 12The National Registry of Exonerations reports that 23% of exonerated people spent more than 15 years incarcerated
• 13The National Registry of Exonerations reports that 66% of exonerees were released without compensation
• 14The National Registry of Exonerations reports that 34% of exonerees received some form of compensation
• 15The National Registry of Exonerations reports that average compensation was $1.9 million for exonerees receiving payments (as shown on the reparations page)

Since 1989, 2,200 people have been exonerated, with hundreds more each year and major roles for eyewitness and forensic errors.