Today is Wrongful Conviction Day, a day that is devoted to the remembrance of the untold thousands of persons who have been convicted of a crime they did not commit.

Many of these persons were caught up in the "Day Care Sex Abuse Hysteria," which Wikipedia describes as "a moral panic that occurred primarily in the 1980s and early 1990s featuring charges against day-care providers of several forms of child abuse, including Satanic ritual abuse." The McMartin preschool trial in California was the best-known case -- see cover from People magazine.

Nationwide, hundreds of day-care providers were involved in the panic, which was driven by investigators who were repeatedly told, "believe the chilldren" and "children never lie." Many of these day-care workers were charged, convicted, and sentenced. To date, 58 of these wrongfully convicted persons have been exonerated, according to the National Registry of Exonerations.

The "believe the children" mantra bears an eerie resemblance to the current "believe the victim" and #BelieveSurvivors movement. In fact, both spring from the same ideology, which asserts the presumption of innocence doesn't apply in these cases.

On Wrongful Conviction Day, we remind investigators, prosecutors, and other persons working in the legal system of your sworn duty to uphold and defend the Constitution. That includes supporting due process and impartial investigations.