Date Presented

Spring 5-2026

Document Type

Thesis

First Advisor

Dr. Kenneth Wagner

Second Advisor

Dr. Elizabeth Sharrett

Third Advisor

Dr. Nichole Sanders

Abstract

Racial injustices have at times left individuals and their families stranded with little hope for a solution when dealing with exonerations for criminal convictions. This was the case for Sabrina Butler, a young Black mother from Mississippi, who was convicted in 1989 of murdering her nine-month-old son after he stopped breathing and she attempted to resuscitate him. Butler was only 17 years old at the time, and she was sentenced to death and spent over five years in prison, two of those years being on death row. Fortunately, medical evidence later proved her child had died of natural causes, and Butler was officially exonerated in 2001 (DPIC, 2014). She became the first woman in U.S. history to be exonerated from death row. Although women represent a small percentage of total exonerees in the United States, the statistics reveal striking racial disparities among the ones that are exonerated. According to the National Registry of Exonerations, women make up only about 9% of all known exonerations, yet women of color are disproportionately represented among them, making up nearly 60% of female exonerees (NRE, 2023). Additionally, women are more likely to be wrongfully convicted of certain types of crimes such as accusations of child abuse (NRE, 2023). Also, the type of error involved in the erroneous convictions of women can be different according to a report from the Center on Wrongful Convictions that found that prosecutorial misconduct and false accusations play a more prominent role in the wrongful convictions of women than of men (The Innocence Center, 2025). For example, Deborah Tuerkheimer (2009) conducted a study in murder cases involving children, which present a large proportion of female exonerations, and these cases often involve the longest periods of wrongful incarceration. She finds that these cases rely on disputed medical evidence or misinterpretation of injuries, as seen in numerous cases involving shaken baby syndrome or sudden infant death syndrome (SBS) diagnoses (Tuerkheimer, 2009). Conversely, prosecutorial misconduct can be seen in different ways as well. As for drug possession cases, racial bias in the courtroom surged during the 1980s and 1990s as the “war on drugs” began. This presented a different pattern of prosecutorial misconduct, as some cases included planted evidence, faulty drug testing, or guilt by association, and women of color were targeted the most during these convictions (Alexander, 2012). Luckily, some light is being shone on the issue, as legal experts and advocacy organizations are beginning to stress the urgency of addressing these disparities among exonerees. The Innocence Project, a non-profit organization dedicated to exonerating the wrongly convicted, speaks out on this issue, making it clear that systemic racism and gender bias can combine to place women of color at heightened risk of wrongful conviction. Similarly,  The Assistant Director of the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice, Marissa Bluestine, claims that the justice system is not built to recognize how stereotypes about race and gender can influence outcomes (Hesler, 2024). The National Registry of Exonerations has also urged policymakers to better understand and address racial inequities in wrongful convictions by collecting and analyzing gender-disaggregated data (NRE, 2023). For women and especially those of color, wrongful conviction and subsequent exoneration remains a critically understudied issue within the criminal justice system. Examining specifically how race and crime influences female exonerations can help reveal structural flaws that contribute to wrongful convictions and help find strategies to prevent them. The present study will analyze patterns of racial and crime-specific disparities among female exonerees, aiming to shed light on how intersecting biases contribute to their wrongful convictions, in order to raise awareness about the need for systemic reform. Founded in 1992, the Innocence Project has been crucial in bringing national attention to wrongful convictions and securing exonerations. The organization has helped exonerate over 375 wrongfully convicted individuals, including 21 who served time on death row. Beyond individual case work, the Innocence Project advocates for systemic reforms, including improved eyewitness identification procedures, mandatory recording of interrogations, access to post-conviction DNA testing, and compensation for exonerees. The organization's work has revealed patterns in wrongful convictions that have spurred the creation of innocence projects in law schools across the country and state-level conviction integrity units (Springer, 2022).

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