Since 1994, 33 men have been exonerated in Texas -- 17 of them from Dallas County since 2001 -- after DNA testing. These wrongfully convicted inmates have collectively served 427 years in prison, according to a watchdog group.

These are the important issues that the Integrity Unit will address:

Quality of defense counsel for poor criminal defendants.

Ways to improve witness identification.

Overhauling the standards for collection, preservation and storage of evidence.

The group will also look into the cases of current inmates who may have been wrongfully convicted. Previously, plans for an innocence commission called for a review of exonerations.

Targeting police misconduct by, for instance, requiring that interrogations be recorded to avoid the fabrication of confessions, should also make the list.

The problem is not confined to Texas, of course. This post noted the recent exoneration of Dean Cage in Illinois. He became "the 29th person in Illinois to be exonerated through DNA testing." Every state has given into political pressure over the last 30 years to lock people up in response to the overblown perception that crime is out of control, often without sufficient concern for the possibility that those who are accused are actually innocent. Every state needs to pay greater attention to the urgent need for reforms that will minimize unjust convictions.