Supplied photo.
“The law is reason free from passion,” according to Aristotle. Keeping the law honest is the mission of The Innocence Project at UVA’s School of Law.
For more than a decade, the university’s program has offered investigative and litigation assistance to wrongly convicted inmates who cannot afford representation for lengthy and expensive appeals. Under the direction of faculty experienced as prosecutors or defense attorneys, students research cases, conduct investigations, prepare appeals, and support efforts to change policies in Virginia. Up to 14 law students take a year-long course for academic credit; 60 to 70 students participate in the associated pro bono clinic each year.
UVA law professor and Innocence Project Director Jennifer Givens says the program offers both valuable real-world experience to law students and an avenue for justice to the wrongly incarcerated. Since its inception, UVA’s Innocence Project alone has helped release or exonerate 16 innocent people. The process can take several years.
“The work can be very emotionally taxing,” says Givens, “but you know you’re contributing to something worthwhile.”
The Innocence Project began in 1992 as a clinic at Cardozo School of Law taught by two of the lawyers on O.J. Simpson’s defense team, spurred by a study showing almost 70 percent of wrongful convictions were influenced by eyewitnesses’ erroneous identifications. Established as a nonprofit in 2003, the Innocence Project network now includes law schools, journalism programs, public defense offices, and nonprofits around the U.S. and the world.
