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The innocence project is a
non-profit legal clinic that specializes in exonerating wrongfully convicted
people through DNA testing and reforming the criminal justice system to prevent
future injustice. They were founded in 1992 by Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld
at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University. All of the
innocence project clients go through an extensive screening process; this is
done to determine whether or not DNA testing of evidence could prove their
claims of innocence. Today, there are thousands that are currently waiting for
evaluation of their cases. The DNA testing has shown proof that our justice
system convicts and sentences innocent people, it also shows that wrongful
convictions are not isolated or rare events. An interesting and true statement
on their website says, ‘the prospect of innocents languishing in prison or,
worse, being put to death for crimes that they did not commit, should be
intolerable to every American, regardless of race, politics, sex, origin, or
creed.’ More than 300 people in the United States have been exonerated by DNA
testing, including 18 who served time on death row! That’s great that this
projects like this and others could do something like this! Most of the people
who have been exonerated have already served an average of 13 years in prison
before being exonerated and released. The true suspects have been identified
in154 of the DNA exoneration cases. The mission of the innocence project is to
free the innocent people who remain incarcerated, and to bring substantive
reform to the system responsible for their unjust imprisonment.
On their website, they have daily
blog posts related to what they are doing/trying to prevent. One titled ‘African
American Wrongful Convictions throughout History,’ is about different cases
where African Americans were wrongfully accused, convicted, incarcerated and
sometimes even killed. The leading causes of these wrongful convictions are;
eyewitness misidentification, invalidated or improper forensic science, false
confessions and incriminating statements, and informants. Eyewitness misidentification
was a factor in 73% of post-conviction DNA exoneration cases in the U.S., which
makes it the leading cause in wrongful convictions. Invalidated or improper
forensic science made up of 49% of wrongful convictions that were later
overturned by DNA testing. False confessions and incriminating statements made
up 27% of wrongful convictions. If looking at only homicide cases, false
confessions are the number one contributor to wrongful convictions. Informants contributed
to wrongful convictions in 18% of the cases.
An article called ‘From Convicted
Sex Offender to Millionaire, Man Gets New Life,’ is a great example of the type
of things that the Innocence Project participates in (this particular article
was not about the innocence project, but provides a good example of the type of
work they do; this case was exonerated by the Dallas District Attorney’s Office).
This is a story about a man named Michael Phillips. The exoneration of Phillips
is a first of its kind, because he wasn’t insisting on justification. He accepted a
plea deal in 1990 because he feared that his race would prevent him from
getting a fair trial. He ended up serving 12 years in a Texas prison for the
rape of a 16 year old white girl at a Dallas motel where he had worked as a
maintenance man. Phillips is confined to a wheelchair because he is battling
sickle cell anemia and has been out of prison since 2002. Although he has been
out of prison for 12 years, he considers his life to be one long sentence
because he was labeled a sex offender.
On the night of the attack, the
victim was awakened by a man wearing a black and white ski mask. She pulled up
her assailant’s mask and recognized him as Phillips, a man she had seen living
at the motel. A month later detectives showed her a lineup of six men, and she
identified Phillips as the man who raped her. Phillips had a criminal record;
he committed burglary when he was 19. At 32 he says that he was trying to make
an honest living, and was shocked as anyone would be, to hear that they are
being charged with a rape that they did not commit. A public defender told
Phillips, ‘You are a black man. This is a young white girl who has been
assaulted. You have an X on your back already. What do you think the chances
are if you go before an all-white jury?’ So, instead of fighting it he took the
plea deal. After Phillips got out of prison, he struggled to make ends meet. Having
the sex offender label slapped on him, it was difficult to find jobs and a
place to live. The semen found in the rape kit was put into the FBI’s combined
DNA index system, and matched the sample of another man who also lived at the
motel where the rape took place. The person cannot be prosecuted because the
statute of limitations has expired. Phillips is not angry at the victim for
choosing the wrong person, he says, ‘I pray for her, I forgive her, and I bless
her.’ Texas law awards an exoneree $80,000 for each year of wrongful
incarceration. Phillips will receive a lump sum of $960,000 and $80,000 a year
for as long as he lives. Texas also offers exonerees state run health insurance
and a free education.
Programs like the innocence
project, and the Dallas District Attorney’s Office, are a great thing for those
who have been wrongfully convicted. These programs and many others are seeking
justice for those who have been wrongfully convicted. It’s good to see that
those who were wrongfully committed are being exonerated. It’s great that those
like Phillips can receive some sort of pay out, but it’s sad that they were
even convicted of a crime they did not do in the first place.
References:
About the Innocence Project. (n.d.). The
Innocence Project. Retrieved August 8, 2014, from http://www.innocenceproject.org/about/
Grimsley, E. (2013, February 28). Innocence Blog. :
African American Wrongful Convictions Throughout History. Retrieved August 8, 2014, from http://www.innocenceproject.org/ContentAfrican_American_Wrongful_Convictions_Throughou t_History.php
Mission Statement. (n.d.). The
Innocence Project. Retrieved August 8, 2014, from http://www.innocenceproject.org/about/Mission-Statement.php
Morris, J. (2014, July 31). From convicted sex
offender to millionaire, man gets new life. CNN. Retrieved August 8, 2014, from http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/31/us/texas-rape- exoneration/index.html?hpt=hp_t4
The Innocence Project - DNA Exonerations
Nationwide. (n.d.). The
Innocence Project - DNA Exonerations Nationwide. Retrieved August 8, 2014, from http://www.innocenceproject.org/Content/DNA_Exonerations_Nationwide.php
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