For nearly 20 years, North Carolina's Innocence Inquiry Commission has investigated claims of wrongful convictions. It's the only commission of its kind in the country.
Since the legislature created the commission in 2007, it has had a hand in exonerating 16 people who altogether spent more than 300 years in prison for crimes they did not commit.
The state Senate's budget proposal, which passed its final vote Thursday, would eliminate the commission.
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