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Attorney General Josh Shapiro wants justice

Plans new statewide conviction integrity unit

  • Joseph Darius Jaafari
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro speaks during a news conference in Philadelphia, Tuesday, May 14, 2019.

 Matt Rourke / AP Photo

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro speaks during a news conference in Philadelphia, Tuesday, May 14, 2019.

It’s February 14, Context readers. And that can only mean one thing: It’s Arizona’s Birthday! The State of 5 Cs (Copper, Cattle, Cotton, Citrus and Climate) was established on this day in 1912. But, of course, it’s hard to forget that today is universally recognized as the eve of Singles Awareness Day, when we salute the single people out there, doing the best they can. Oh… it’s also Valentine’s Day. Meh. If you’re really itching to do something romantic, go out and find a swamp rose, a native flower to Pennsylvania’s marshlands. Or, just do nothing. I’m not bitter. —Joseph Darius Jaafari, staff writer
Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro speaks during a news conference in Philadelphia, Tuesday, May 14, 2019.

Matt Rourke / AP Photo

Pennsylvania Attorney General Josh Shapiro speaks during a news conference in Philadelphia, Tuesday, May 14, 2019. (Matt Rourke / AP Photo)

On Wednesday, Attorney General Josh Shapiro announced he would create a Conviction Integrity Unit charged with analyzing and reviewing old cases that might have resulted in bad convictions. For inmates in Pennsylvania’s prisons who stand by their innocence, the unit will be a sort of last-resort for getting their cases reassessed.

This isn’t the first-of-its kind unit in Pennsylvania, but it will be the first to look at cases statewide. Currently, only Philadelphia has a unit like this, and it only reviews cases tried by the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas.

But before we discuss exactly what the AG’s unit will do, we’re going to go back into where these units came from, how effective they’ve been in other states, and what makes them integral to a fair criminal justice system.

You might think the recent trend of progressive prosecutors and criminal justice reform groups birthed the idea to create integrity units across the nation. You’d be wrong, because it was a conservative, tough-on-crime North Carolina judge who established the first Actual Innocence Commission in 2002. Unlike efforts with similar names, the N.C. commission (and the N.C. Innocence Inquiry Commission that grew out if it) had the power to subpoena records and witnesses in cases where evidence was not properly disclosed to the defense, often referred to as “Brady material.”

The commission’s only job is to review cases where there might have been wrongdoing, and retry those cases for exoneration.

The reasoning is simple: in a human system, there will be mistakes made and biases will occur. And as the old adage goes, where there’s a single known innocent person in jail, you’ll find many more.

“We have an imperfect system. And wrongful convictions, although rare, do exist. And this is why it’s important to have a system in place to fix and minimize wrongful convictions,” Andrew Warren, a district attorney in Florida, told the Tampa Bay Times in 2018 when he started taking on cases for review.

Close to a dozen other states and 45 municipalities across the nation launched their own projects to review wrongful convictions. Since the Actual Innocence Commission started 14 years ago, it’s secured the release of 12 people. In Cook County (Chicago), 94 exonerations were the result of that unit’s work. In Harris County (Houston), there’s been 141 exonerations.

But there is considerable pushback against progressive prosecutors, specifically from fiscal conservatives who view the units as costly and with little outcome. New Orleans’ unit was dismantled after less than two years because of budget reasons, and even the North Carolina commission was on the chopping block at one point.

In Pennsylvania, only Philadelphia’s Conviction Integrity Unit exists. Since District Attorney Larry Krasner took office in 2018, 13 people have been exonerated.

Politically, the units are good for building trust with communities that have lost trust in the criminal justice system, according to Fair and Just Protection, an advocacy group. With rumors that Shapiro is looking to run governor in 2022, it would make sense to seize onto an issue — criminal justice reform — that’s a major voting issue for Black communities across the state.

It’s unclear what form the AG’s unit will take, but typically these commissions consist of judges, prosecutors, victims rights advocates and public defenders. As we learn more, we’ll be sure to update you. – Joseph Darius Jaafari

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AP Photo/Matt Slocum

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