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An Innocence Project is one of a number of
non-profit legal organizations in the United States, Canada, the
United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand dedicated to proving the
innocence of wrongly convicted people through the use of DNA
testing, and to the reform of criminal justice systems to
prevent future injustice.[1]
The original Innocence Project was founded in 1992 by Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld as
part of the Benjamin N. Cardozo
School of Law of Yeshiva University in New York City.
It became an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organization in 2003,
but maintains strong institutional connections with Cardozo.[2]
In addition to working on behalf of those who may have been
wrongfully convicted of crimes throughout the United States, The
Innocence Project performs research and advocacy related to the
causes of wrongful
convictions. The Innocence Project is a member of the Innocence
Network, which brings together a number of innocence
organizations from across the United States.[3]
As of September 20, 2009, 242 defendants previously convicted of
serious crimes in the United States had been exonerated by DNA
testing. Almost all of these convictions involved some form of sexual assault
and approximately 25% involved murder.[4]
Wrongful
convictions
The Innocence Project was established in the wake of a landmark
study by the United States
Department of Justice and the United States Senate, in
conjunction with The Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law, which found
that eyewitness misidentification were a factor in over 70% of
wrongful convictions.[5]
In 2007, after an investigation began by The Innocence Project,
James
Calvin Tillman was exonerated after serving 18 years in prison
for a rape he did not commit. His sentence was 45 years. Some of
the Innocence Project's successes have resulted in rescuing
innocent people from Death Row. This has fueled American
opposition to the death penalty, and has probably influenced those
American states that have instituted moratoria on judicial executions.
In December 2009, James Bain
was exonerated by DNA testing for a kidnapping, burglary, and rape
he did not commit. Bain's appeal had previously been denied four
separate times. His 35-year imprisonment made him the
longest-incarcerated victim of a wrongful conviction until
then.[6][7]
In popular
culture
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