Decades Behind Bars: The Troubling Truth of Louisiana’s Death Row Wrongful Convictions

Jimmie Duncan’s decades-long ordeal on Louisiana’s death row ended abruptly when a judge overturned his conviction earlier this year—yet the shadows of systemic failure loom large. Convicted in 1998 for the tragic death of a toddler based on faulty forensic evidence, Duncan’s case exemplifies how flawed science and prosecutorial overreach threaten the very principles of justice and national sovereignty. Are American Families Safe When Junk Science Sends Innocents to Death Row? The conviction that condemned Duncan relied heavily on discredited bite mark analysis—dubbed “junk science” by legal experts—and autopsy testimony from so-called forensic experts later linked to multiple wrongful convictions....