Those who point to exonerations of the wrongfully convicted -- often after years or decades of incarceration -- as evidence that "the system works" are missing the point: the system often doesn't work, and the belated correction of some mistakes only serves to highlight all the errors that our criminal justice system never corrects.

With this reality in mind, the NY Times calls upon New York and Texas--

to join the half-dozen pioneering states that have created what are termed innocence commissions. These are independent investigative bodies of judges, prosecutors, defense lawyers, police officers and forensic scientists who re-examine case facts after prisoners are exonerated using DNA evidence.

These respected authorities try to identify the causes of the wrongful convictions and propose changes to improve the state of justice. Calls to create commissions in New York and Texas are bogged down in statehouse politics, even as a half-dozen other states are poised to create their own monitors.

Creating an innocence commission in every state would be a useful first step toward a meaningful solution to a problem of epidemic proportions. But it is only one step among many that need to be taken.

No one knows the depth of injustice hinted at by DNA exonerations. But it is clear that they demand organized oversight and serious reforms of the criminal justice system.