THE FORMAL pardon by Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe of four Navy veterans who were wrongly convicted of the 1997 rape and murder of a Norfolk woman is the final chapter in the men’s quest to clear their names as they try to rebuild their lives. But it must not be the last word on whether Virginia has sufficient safeguards in place to prevent future miscarriages of justice. Indeed, the fact that it took 20 years for justice to be served suggests the need for reforms.

“I speak for all four of us in expressing our deepest thanks to Governor McAuliffe, who has given us our lives back with these four pardons,” said former sailor Eric Wilson in a statement released after Mr. McAuliffe (D) on Tuesday issued full pardons that freed the men known as the Norfolk Four. Three of the men , who were convicted of rape and murder and sentenced to life in prison, were released in 2009 after then-Gov. Tim Kaine (D) commuted their sentences to time served. (The fourth sailor, who was convicted of rape, had already been released.) But Mr. Kaine stopped short of clearing their names and records; Mr. McAuliffe finished the job.

Any question about the men’s wrongful convictions — and the guilty plea of a man whose DNA was found at the crime scene and who said he acted alone in killing the young woman — was answered last year when a federal judge concluded the men were innocent after exhaustive evidentiary proceedings.

Some of the hallmarks of wrongful convictions are apparent in this case: lengthy interrogations, coerced confessions, lack of physical evidence tying the defendants to the scene and questionable police tactics. That should prompt a reassessment of practices. A good place to start, the Innocence Project’s Amol Sinha told us, is with interrogations that can lead to false confessions. Virginia should follow the practice of a growing number of states in establishing guidelines, including a requirement that questioning be recorded . The state’s appeal process, which makes it hard for defendants to get a fair hearing, is also in need of reform by the legislature, as are discovery practices.

There is no way to give back to these men the lost years of their lives. Nor can there be comfort to the family and friends of the woman who was so brutally murdered. What authorities can do is take steps to prevent future cases in which the wrong people are jailed.