The charity I chose to advocate for is the Innocence Project, a movement that exonerates those who have been wrongfully convicted and reforms the criminal justice system by addressing the issues that convicted the innocent in the first place. The mission of the Innocence Project began in 1987-1988 when founders Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld believed the story of a Bronx man who was wrongfully convicted of a robbery-rape and attempted to exonerate him through DNA evidence. Although forensic science and the knowledge surrounding DNA were substandard at that time, attorneys Neufeld and Scheck were aware that there were plenty more innocent civilians stuck in the criminal justice system. In 1992, the Innocence Project was established with the intent of freeing the wrongfully convicted and shine a light on the system that locked up the innocent. The 501(c)(3) organization provides free legal representation to clients to exonerate them mostly through DNA evidence, supports exonerees financially after post-conviction, seeks to reform laws and policies, and educates judges, the police force and attorneys about the flaws of the system.
The Innocence Project sets the stage for the discussion of the circumstances that allow for innocent civilians to land in prisons, facing up to life sentences. The mass incarceration of African Americans correlated with the issue of mistaken eyewitness testimonies draws for great concern and action to be taken. Systemic racism and implicit bias become pertinent in many of the cases that the charity takes on as the pressure to solve a case and convict a perpetrator increases the chances of victims choosing an innocent person. The tactics of the police force highlight the individual they deem ‘likely’ to have committed the crime based on their location, status quo, and race. This then leads to a greater issue of safety as the real criminals are left in the streets with the likeliness to commit more crimes. The Project has several departments committed to targeting the issue of wrongful convictions from various angles. Their policy department promotes laws that ensure access to post-conviction DNA testing and that compensate innocent people for the harm experienced by wrongful conviction and incarceration. 15 states currently do not have any statue of compensation for the wrongfully convicted thus, the Innocence Project advocates that the failure to compensate adds insult to the injury along with difficulty of re-entering society. Individuals of wrongful conviction are deprived for years of family and friends and the ability to establish oneself professionally, therefore states should be responsible for compensating and helping to restore the lives of those often left with no money, housing, transportation, or health services upon release. The social work department assists exonerees to rebuild their lives post-release through an exoneree fund in which the project seeks to meet the individualized needs of their clients. Additionally, their science and research department works along with their legal department to establish which evidence is credible enough to use. For example, the use of bitemark prints is now considered to be subjective thus, attorneys can use evidence provided by the science department to challenge the credibility of such evidence.
This organization is essential in maintaining the right to justice in a country where life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness is the core of our lives. The Innocence Project personally resonated with me because it’s unique of its kind. It gave a voice to those thrown behind prison bars who felt as society and the whole criminal justice system was against them. It gave hope to the innocent lives awaiting relief and clarification of their cases that the system would one day recognize its errors in time to save their life. The project speaks on behalf of my values to help the most helpless, independence, empathy, and justice as the mission seeks to grant the wrongfully convicted their freedom through DNA testing. As a person who has experienced varying communities of social status, it’s easy to see the number of patrol vehicles circling around communities of color compared to suburban neighborhoods. It often feels like we’re walking targets for crimes to be planted on us and after reading the stories of the exonerees, it’s been made clear that it’s more than possible. The Innocence Project advocates rectifying those issues that make it possible for innocent people to be suspected, tried and convicted.
All in all, the Innocence Project combats the unfortunate reality that anyone of us can be convicted for being at the wrong place at the wrong time. With 367 exonerations to date saving 21 lives on death row, the Innocence Project saves those betrayed by the system meant to protect us. Your donation would assist in covering the DNA testings needed for post-conviction investigations and exoneree funds needed to restore the lives of those who have had their time on Earth stripped away. Any donation would shine a light on this issue as it’s often neglected and pushed aside. Yet, we should be proactive in rectifying the issues our society creates.
Gabriella Corrales
Gabriella, I really enjoyed reading your post and your presentation today about the Innocence Project. This reminds me of a documentary I saw on Netflix a while ago: The Fear of 13. It was a documentary about a wrongfully convicted prisoner on death row. I remember the shock I felt after watching the movie and it's just really sad how many people are probably still in the same situation now.
ReplyDeleteI really hope the Innocence Project is able to expand their scope as many people are not able to afford a fair trial. I've often heard that the U.S. criminal justice system is inferior to many other countries so it's sad that we have such a systemic failure. One inconsistency I did notice is that it seems like they have a big budget (multi-million dollars), I feel like they should be able to help more people.
nDNA is individualizing evidence, except in the case of identical twins when it is the best type of class evidence (they have identical nDNA). It is turned into an nDNA profile by first being isolated, then amplified through polymerase chain reaction using a thermocycler, and gel electrophoresis is used to visualize the amplified sample. A ladder (set of known lengths of the STR) is included in the gel tray so that the length of the unknown sample can be determined. This needs to be done for all 13 STRs to determine all 13 genotypes needed in a profile. The 3 possible outcomes of a nDNA profile comparison are a match, meaning that all 13 genotypes are the same, an exclusion, meaning that the profiles do not match, and inconclusive, meaning that there was not enough of the sample to have finished the comparison, such as if it came from a decomposing body. If there is a match, a profile probability is calculated. This determines the likelihood of another random person having the same profile. This number is then converted into a meaningful ratio, which creates an answer which the average juror is able to understand. This value is most likely individualizing and has high associative value. Depending on this case it could have probative value.
ReplyDeletenDNA is often used by The Innocence Project to overturn past convictions (although mDNA can be used as well) since it is a relatively new type of forensic evidence. As such, the technology did not exist when many people were sentenced to life in prison/the death sentence—the cases which the organization most commonly takes. However, the evidence was collected and logged, so it can be revisited when The Innocence Project takes a case. Although nDNA cannot be used to be definitively state that a person 100% committed a crime, it can exclude them from being connected to the evidence. Ever since shows like NCIS and Bones became popular, juries are far more likely to believe in DNA evidence over any other type of evidence—even though that is very improper and jurors need better education on types of circumstantial evidence—so it greatly aides in getting convictions overturned.
As such, the work of The Innocence Project is extremely important because it results in rights being wronged—merely because the technology now exists. However, many people do not have the means to advocate for themselves so the organization is the go-between that allows for “new” evidence to be brought to life. The Innocence Project has 365 documented DNA exonerations in the USA, but those only represent 15% of all exonerations (https://www.innocenceproject.org/exoneration-statistics-and-databases/). This is because (almost) all forensic science is only circumstance evidence, yet juries treat it like gospel. Elizabeth Loftus, an American cognitive psychologist and expert on human memory, has found issues with witness testimony that calls its value as evidence into question. Her research focused on memory construction and the misinformation effect, showing that many witnesses are led to inadvertently lie—leading to false convictions. As such, juries are making decisions based on false information. Exoneration in the USA is a very necessary process due to a multitude of wrongful convictions made on basis’ like these, yet they are rare to come by. As such, the work of organizations like The Innocence Project are so important.
Sabrina Reba
I think this organization is unique in its mission and the services it provides, as it pinpoints the issue of wrongful convictions in our criminal justice system. I especially like and support this organization because I think their values align with that of the prison abolitionist/restorative justice movements. I envision their mission and services can be extended to tackle the mass incarceration of black men in other ways; for example, the imprisonment rate of black men for drug charges is almost 6 times that of white men, despite the fact that more white men reported using illicit drugs than black men. This is in line with their values because the Innocence Project questions the motives of the criminal justice system, and can continue to do so by tackling other disparities within it. Their current and potential work will compel others to question the morality of our criminal justice system and whether it is serving in the best interests of people, not those who profit from this system.
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