EDITORIAL: Bolstering justice by acknowledging, righting wrongs

Thirty years ago, two attorneys who served on O.J. Simpson’s “dream” legal team paired up to form the Innocence Project at Yeshiva University’s Cardoza School of Law in New York City. The purpose was to use advancing technology — DNA and the like — to exonerate people who had been falsely convicted of serious crimes.

The effort has had several high-profile successes over the years, including the release of one death row inmate. It has also spawned a worldwide network of similar organizations dedicated to ferreting out wrongful convictions. And now the movement has come to Nevada.

This week, a group of legal experts announced the formation of the Innocence Center of Nevada, which will investigate cases in which inmates claim they have been falsely convicted. The effort — which will be funded through private donations — includes former state Supreme Court Justice Michael Douglas, who retired in 2019.

“Folks who have been wrongly convicted and are stating ‘I’m innocent’ deserve an opportunity to have their case reviewed one more time,” Mr. Douglas said. “If it’s one person out of 100, we need to do that. We need to have true justice. Justice should not be just for the rich. Justice should not be just for individuals who can afford the best attorneys, the best investigators. Everyone deserves equal justice.”

It’s worth noting that wrongful convictions are exceedingly rare and that the great majority of those in prison committed the crimes for which they pleaded guilty or stood trial. Jailhouse innocents represent a minuscule percentage of those who find themselves facing criminal charges. But no system created and run by human beings is perfect, and efforts to identify mistakes — or worse — deserve robust support. “It is better that 10 guilty persons escape,” English jurist William Blackstone famously said, “than that one innocent person suffer.”

The bulk of those involved in the justice system — from jurors to police to prosecutors to defense attorneys to judges — understand the gravity of their jobs and respect the awesome power they wield, the power to imprison individuals and deprive them of their most basic human liberties and freedoms. It is precisely because errors can have such significant consequences that additional checks should be welcomed.

The Innocence Center of Nevada represents a noble undertaking. Identifying and addressing wrongful convictions can lead to improvements designed to ensure that mistakes are not repeated and can help instill public confidence that the criminal justice system is operating fairly and capable of righting wrongs. Errors are inevitable — but acknowledging that the system isn’t infallible and that mistakes must be rectified will go a long way toward strengthening the American system of justice.