The Innocence Project
The Real Innocence Project and Law Facts
The real Innocence Project was founded by Barry Scheck in 1992 at the Cardozo School of Law at Yeshiva University in New York. It was, and still is, a non-profit legal clinic and criminal justice resource centre. The Project usually handles cases where post-conviction DNA testing can yield conclusive proof of innocence.
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There are now Innocence Projects attached to universities throughout the USA.
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Several similar pro bono legal clinics and legal advice centres have been set up attached to universities throughout the UK – including Manchester, Leeds, Cardiff and Bristol.
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This year alone, over 300 students signed up at Manchester University's voluntary legal advice centre to work on pro bono cases.
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According to HESA (Higher Education Statistics Agency), in 2004/05 there were 71,545 law students in the UK.
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The CCRC (Criminal Cases Review Commission) is an independent public body,
set up in 1997 to investigate possible miscarriages of justice in England. To
date, the commission has completed 8,342 applications for appeal – 424 are
currently under review.
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On 18 January 2002, Larry Mayes of Indiana was the 100th prisoner freed, based upon post-conviction DNA testing. This was as a direct result of the work done by the first Innocence Project, at the Cardozo School of Law in New York.
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The success of the original Innocence Project has led to a host of legal and policy reforms in the USA, which were thought to be unimaginable a decade ago. One of the key changes has been the introduction of over two dozen state laws, strengthening the rights of convicted prisoners to access and to present DNA evidence to prove their innocence. Critical reforms have also been implemented in state and local police departments to improve the reliability of eyewitness identifications and confessions.
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