Fordham Law School Professor James A. Cohen is quoted in an Agence Presse-France article about justice and injustice in Texas.
The vast majority of exonerations are in drug cases where people caught up in the system are pressured to plead guilty because they have little hope of clearing their names.
“It’s shocking but it is very common,” said Jim Cohen, a professor at Fordham Law School.
“They are pushed by the prosecutor and they are pushed by the defense attorney because the defense attorney is saying, ‘if you don’t plead guilty and you are convicted after trial, you’re going to get a much bigger sentence’.”