Assisting the Factually Innocent: The Contradictions and Compatibility of Innocence Projects and the Criminal Cases Review Commission (2024)

FAQs

What piece of evidence does the Innocence Project use to help get innocent people free? ›

DNA Exoneration

Much of the Innocence Project's work focuses on cases where DNA evidence (e.g., blood or other bodily fluids) is central to the case, which tend to be cases involving sexual assault or murder. DNA exonerations represent only a portion, about 15%, of all exonerations in the United States.

Founded in 1992 by visionary attorneys Peter Neufeld and Barry Scheck, the Innocence Project has been at the forefront of criminal justice reform, using DNA and other scientific advancements to prove wrongful conviction. Innocence Project clients collectively spent more than 3,700 years wrongfully incarcerated. (

Scheck and Peter J. Neufeld at Cardozo Law, to assist incarcerated people who could be proven innocent through DNA testing. To date, 193 people in the United States have been exonerated by DNA testing through The Innocence Project.

The Innocence Project ONLY considers cases that are: The trial has been completed, an appeal has taken place and the person is serving their sentence. There is physical evidence that, if subjected to DNA testing, will prove that the applicant is innocent.

The Innocence Project is a national litigation and public policy organization dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted people through DNA testing and reforming the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice.

The reforms include: double-blind presentation (photos or lineup members are presented by an administrator who does not know who the suspect is); lineup composition (the non-suspects included in a lineup resemble the eyewitness's description of the perpetrator and the suspect should not stand out); witness instructions ...

We've helped free more than 240 innocent people from prison. Support our work to strengthen and advance the innocence movement.

The leading factors in wrongful convictions are: Eyewitness misidentification. False confessions. Police and prosecutorial misconduct.

Of all the cases taken on by the Innocence Project so far, about 43% of clients were proven innocent, 42% were confirmed guilty, and evidence was inconclusive and not probative in 15% of cases.

How does the Innocence Project help exonerate individuals? ›

Once DNA cases are selected, our lawyers work to access the evidence for DNA testing through the consent of the State or court proceedings and litigating on behalf of the client and work to secure relief based on exculpatory evidence. This process can take decades before an exoneration occurs.

The Innocence Project has found that 87 percent of their wrongful con- viction cases resulted from flawed eyewitness testimony.

In order to have your case considered by NCIP, you must meet all of the following criteria: 1) you must be actually innocent of the crimes for which you have been convicted; 2) There must be a significant chance that substantial new evidence may be found to support your claim of innocence; and 3) you must have been ...

Innocence Project pay FAQs

The average Innocence Project hourly pay ranges from approximately $23 per hour (estimate) for an Intern to $40 per hour (estimate) for a Researcher. Innocence Project employees rate the overall compensation and benefits package 4.1/5 stars.

There are many ways to contribute to our work. In addition to making a one-time or recurring contribution online, you can mail a check, make a wire transfer, donate stock or cryptocurrency, or leave a legacy by including the Innocence Project in your estate plans.

One of the important ways of establishing innocence today is post-conviction DNA testing. Biological evidence retained in cases from the pre-DNA period may be retested. Samples that did not provide conclusive results then are now subject to more advanced analysis.

Since 1992, we have helped free or exonerate hundreds of wrongfully convicted people. The cases here are considered closed and reflective of Innocence Project's exonerated clients only.

Since the advent of forensic DNA analysis, a number of individuals convicted of crimes have been subsequently exonerated through DNA analysis of crime scene evidence that was not tested at the time of trial.

In order to have your case considered by NCIP, you must meet all of the following criteria: 1) you must be actually innocent of the crimes for which you have been convicted; 2) There must be a significant chance that substantial new evidence may be found to support your claim of innocence; and 3) you must have been ...