Here’s a short video for anyone who thinks the criminal justice system is working, which is one of the most common responses I hear when I talk about the problem of innocent people on death row. “Every time an innocent person is released from death row,” I’m told, “we have another example of how well our system works.”

Except that the system doesn’t work. It takes an extremely long time for an exoneration and time is often working against inmates; DNA evidence only exists in a fraction of cases; the state is usually actively using all of its resources against the hopeful exoneree; courts typically won’t rule on evidence of innocence, as procedural issues are generally the focus of appeals; and a great many exonerees have benefitted from pro bono work done by overworked attorneys or even journalists working entirely outside the criminal justice system.

And if none of that seems compelling, watch the video. It’s proof that comes directly from someone who professes his absolute faith in the system: Rick Perry, posthumously pardoning a man who died in prison and was later exonerated of the crime that put him there.

Read more about estimating the number of innocent people in prison all over the U.S. in this interesting piece from Mother Jones.