NEW YORK (PIX11) – At 110th Street and Fifth Avenue in Central Park, you’ll find the new “Gate of the Exonerated.”
It is the first entrance to the iconic park to be named since 1862, and it honors all those who have been wrongfully convicted of crimes.
The gate was inspired by the Exonerated Five – once known as the Central Park Five. It recognizes the ongoing fight for justice and equality in the system.
Since 1989, 342 people have been exonerated in New York alone. Across the United States, more than 3,000 wrongfully convicted people have been cleared.
Black people made up 53% of the 3,200 wrongful convictions documented in a study by the National Registry of Exoneration, while white people accounted for 32% of the exonerees.
PIX11 News recently spoke with four people wrongfully convicted of crimes as teenagers – only to find freedom as middle-aged men. PIX11 also took a look at the tireless fight for justice by the Innocence Project and how prosecutors are making changes to the criminal justice system.
Watch the full half-hour special, “Presumed Guilty,” in the video player.
