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Wrongful Death Centre will Remain Active
(IRN)-The end of the death penalty doesn't mean the end for the Center on Wrongful Convictions.

The center, based at the Northwestern University School of Law, was one of the main drivers of repeal of capital punishment. Director Rob Warden says there are still plenty of wrongful convictions in non-death penalty cases.

"The death penalty has never been our primary issue," he said. "That's an issue of punishment. We exist to rectify and identify wrongful convictions and similar miscarriages of justice, and we're going to be carrying ahead with that. There's a lot to be done."

Warden says Illinois needs reform, including:

- Recording of police interrogations in non-homicide cases
- Guidelines for the admissibility and usefulness of eyewitness testimony.
- An “innocence commission” to investigate wrongful convictions and determine whether there were honest or good-faith mistakes, or willful wrongdoing by cops and prosecutors.

Warden says the center has identified 100 wrongful convictions for serious crimes in Illinois over the last 22 years; the Downstate Innocence Project has found a few more.

(Source: Illinois Radio Network)
03 14 11 by Newsroom
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