In 2024, 147 people were exonerated in the U.S. after losing an average of 13.5 years of their lives to wrongful imprisonment for crimes they did not commit.
Race continues to play a major role in this injustice — 78% of the exonerees were people of color and 60% of all exonerees those were Black.
In total, the exonerated people lost 1,980 years of life to prison and the states that made the errors are liable for more than $4.6 billion in damages.