WFHS LIBRARY - The Innocence Project

The Innocence Project, founded in 1992 by Peter Neufeld and Barry Scheck at Cardozo School of Law, exonerates the wrongly convicted through DNA testing and reforms the criminal justice system to prevent future injustice.

The Innocence Project's mission is to free the staggering number of innocent people who remain incarcerated, and to bring reform to the system responsible for their unjust imprisonment.

Project Objective:

Hundreds of people have been wrongfully convicted of crimes in the United States. However, due to breakthroughs in DNA testing, many of these cases have been re-examined, and have ultimately led to the exoneration of those who were wrongfully convicted. There are various reasons why people can be linked to a crime they did not commit.

Your objective is to research the case of one individual who has been wrongfully convicted of a crime. You must examine the individual’s background, the facts of the crime, the individual’s interaction with law enforcement, the evidence, the events of the trial, the conviction and the exoneration. After analyzing the information, you must decide which factors led to this person being wrongfully convicted of the crime, and discuss your opinion of our criminal justice system.

Steps:

Part I: Use the "Innocence Project" website to gather information on ONE wrongfully convicted person, including the details of the crime, why they were accused and convicted, and how they were exonerated.

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Part II: Using this information, create a slideshow presentation (Google, PowerPoint, Canva) on wrongful convictions. Your presentation should adhere to the following format:

Slide 1: Title Slide
Slide 2: Your Case
- - Picture of the wrongfully convicted and details of the crime
Slide 3: Your Case (cont'd)
- - Details of the evidence
Slide 4: Your Case (cont'd)
- - Details of the trial
Slide 5: Your Case (cont'd)
- - How did the Innocence Project intervene? How was he/she exonerated?
Slide 6: Your Opinion
- - Why was your individual wrongfully convicted? Include possibilities such as race, poverty, education, etc.
Slide 7: Your Opinion (cont'd)
- - Explain possible solutions that can help prevent wrongful convictions
Slide 8: Reflection
- - How do you feel about our criminal justice system? Is it fair? How do you feel about the Innocence Project?