About the Registry

The National Registry of Exonerations is a project of the University of Michigan Law School. It was founded in 2012 in conjunction with the Center on Wrongful Convictions at Northwestern University School of Law. The Registry provides detailed information about every known exoneration in the United States since 1989—cases in which a person was wrongly convicted of a crime and later cleared of all the charges based on new evidence of innocence.

Exoneration News

New App - Learn About Exonerations Instantly!
4/13/2016

Our new mobile app makes it easy to read about exonerations seconds after they are added to the Registry!  You can find it in the App Store for iPhones and in Google Play for Androids by searching "exonerations." It's free and includes an exoneration counter, recently posted exoneration stories, and a notification each time a new exoneration is added.

current Exonerations
Mario Casciaro
State: IL
Date of Exoneration: 3/30/2016
In 2013, Mario Casciaro was sentenced to 26 years in prison for murder in McHenry County, Illinois. In 2014, the chief witness against him recanted; in 2016, the murder conviction was vacated and the case was dismissed. (Photo of Mario Casciaro by Sarah Hader/Northwest Herald)

G'Cobra Smith
State: TX
Date of Exoneration: 3/28/2016
In November 2014, 17-year-old g'Cobra Smith pled guilty to attempted possession of liquid codeine and was sentenced to 180 days in jail. He was exonerated in 2016 after lab tests were negative for any controlled substance.

Clarissa Glenn
State: IL
Date of Exoneration: 3/23/2016
In 2005, Clarissa Glenn and her husband, Ben Baker, pled guilty to possession of cocaine in Chicago. She was sentenced to probation and he to four years in prison. They were exonerated in 2016 after a police officer who framed them was sentenced to prison.

Randolph Williams
State: NY
Date of Exoneration: 3/15/2016
In 2008, Randolph Williams was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison for a murder in Brooklyn, New York. He was acquitted at a re-trial in 2016 after witnesses admitted they were coerced by police to falsely identify Williams as the gunman. (Williams and his mother/Photo courtesy New York Daily News)