The Center
for Innocence was founded in 2012 by Laurie Conrad and Blair Creed at the
Appalachian School of Law to assist prisoners who have actual claims of
innocence. There is and remains tremendous support from Dean McGough in making
ASLCI a reality here. The Center for
Innocence’s staff attorney and Appalachian School of Law students provide
direct representation or critical assistance in most of these cases. The
Center’s goal to free innocent people is supported by research indicating there
are a substantial number of individuals who are wrongfully imprisoned. Recently
a study done in Ohio sampling 188 judges, prosecuting attorney’s, public
defenders, sheriffs/police, and 41 State Attorneys Generals estimates that an
average of 10,000 wrongful convictions occur across the nation each year.
Consequently,
according to the Virginia 2011 crime report, of the 20,000 violent crimes
committed in this state in 2011, approximately 5%, 1,000 people, were
wrongfully convicted. The Center for
Innocence is an independent nonprofit organization affiliated with the
Innocence Project at Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University. Our mission is nothing less than to exonerate
the staggering numbers of innocent people who remain incarcerated and to
encourage substantive reform of the criminal justice system.
History of
Innocence Project
The
Innocence Project was started by Professors Peter Neufeld and Barry Scheck at
the Cardozo School of Law in New York. They work primarily with DNA cases and
collect data on wrongful convictions. It was through them that the prevalence
of witness misidentification, false confessions, and government misconduct came
to light. Many professionals in the field of psychology were already aware of
the problem, but it was unclear how staggering the numbers were until the
Innocence Project started using DNA to clear people.
The
Innocence Project is a nonprofit organization of national litigation and public
policy organizations dedicated to exonerating wrongfully convicted individuals.
Most of the Project’s clients are indigent and have exhausted all their legal
avenues for relief. There is an extensive screening process involved in
determining which cases/clients to accept. The Project consults with
legislatures and other government officials in an effort to help correct the causes
of wrongful convictions.
Objectives
Our objectives here at the Appalachian School of Law Center
for Innocence are to join in the efforts at Cardozo, focusing on inmates who
were convicted based on witness misidentification and faulty evidence. We have
developed a system to offer our students various levels of membership within
the organization. We offer associate membership to any student who wants to
join and have the opportunity of assisting in our research. In order for a
student to become an associate they simply have to begin attending meetings. To
become a member engaging in the actual filing of claims and assisting at trial
the student needs to meet a strict set of guidelines. Our reasoning for this
two tier process is the sensitive and critical nature of the organization.
“After I agreed to join this faculty, one of the first
contacts I received was from this most insistent Laurie Conrad. She and Blair
Creed have pushed this Center into existence, and I am delighted to see such
spunky, public spirited law students. I worked with the Innocence Project of
New Orleans and know how important this project is. When citizens lose faith in
their legal system, terrible consequences follow. I am hopeful that ASL
students can play a role in securing justice.”
- Dean Lucy McGough
"Conviction of an innocent person imposes on them a
crime equal to or greater than the one charged. Worse the particular crime of
convicting an innocent person is one committed by the state on behalf of the
people. Therefore it is a sin we all share in and must take responsibility for.
Both the victim of the crime and the victim of a wrongful conviction suffer
irreparable harm as do their families. When a person does time so does their
family. Convicting an innocent person does not only steal the life of the wrongfully
convicted but deprives the victims of justice. Exoneration of the innocent is
the only redemption we have" -
Blair Creed
"To imprison an innocent person offends the sense of
justice we all believe in as justice is only served when the actual perpetrator
is apprehended. Justice should never be only about convictions but always about
seeking the truth." - Laurie Conrad
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