Surviving Death Row [Infographic]

Imagine the terror of standing in a court of law and being sentenced to death. If you were guilty, it would be terrifying. If you were innocent, it would be doubly terrifying, as you stand there and wonder why people are going to end your life over something you know you didn't do. The problem is that the justice system is flawed. It's based on a jury of our peers, but those peers aren't perfect and until a few decades ago, there wasn't a scientific way for innocent folks to prove they didn't commit a murder they were charged with. Thanks to DNA evidence, people are now getting scientific proof that they are innocent of the crime of murder. People that sat on death row for decades are now being set free thanks to DNA evidence that they didn't commit the crime. We'll never know how many innocent people died because DNA evidence wasn't available, but we do know that these 300 men were very lucky.

Imagine the terror of standing in a court of law and being sentenced to death. If you were guilty, it would be terrifying. If you were innocent, it would be doubly terrifying, as you stand there and wonder why people are going to end your life over something you know you didn't do. The problem is that the justice system is flawed. It's based on a jury of our peers, but those peers aren't perfect and until a few decades ago, there wasn't a scientific way for innocent folks to prove they didn't commit a murder they were charged with.

Thanks to DNA evidence, people are now getting scientific proof that they are innocent of the crime of murder. People that sat on death row for decades are now being set free thanks to DNA evidence that they didn't commit the crime. We'll never know how many innocent people died because DNA evidence wasn't available, but we do know that these 300 men were very lucky.