Friday, August 8, 2014

The Innocence Project

http://foundinnocent.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/innocence-project.jpg

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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