Today marks the 9th annual Wrongful Conviction Day—a day to raise awareness of the causes and remedies of wrongful conviction and to recognize the impacts on innocent people and their families. This year’s theme is “Collective Impact,” and some of the discussions will examine the way wrongful convictions impact not only the innocents who are wrongfully imprisoned, but the community at large.
Since 1989, more than 3,200 people have been exonerated in the U.S. according to the National Registry of Exonerations. Those individuals have collectively spent more than 27,200 years in prison for crimes they did not commit. And of course those years are also painful for their friends, family members, the loved ones they don’t get to see.
“It is extremely hard, and nobody, nobody does prison by their self,” said Tim Howard, our client who was wrongfully incarcerated in Arkansas. “There’s always somebody on the other side of that coin, whether it be a mother, a son, a daughter, or some family member. Somebody else is doing that same time.”
Getting someone out and exonerated is incredibly difficult. It takes a long time, a lot of money, and lots of hard work that is not particularly glamorous, like filing legal motions, meeting with attorneys, trying to find old court documents. But it also takes public engagement and community support. The more people are engaged in what’s going on with the criminal justice system and raising their voices to make it better, the more impact we can have.
So how can you help?
- Donate. The amount of money it takes to free an innocent person from prison is incredibly high. Things like court transcripts, hiring expert witnesses, running forensic tests, etc cost thousands of dollars, so the price of getting someone out quickly climbs into the thousands of dollars. Your generous donations allow your local innocence organizations like Proclaim Justice to keep doing the work.
- Get Involved: Reach out to your local innocence organization and ask if they need volunteers. Sometimes they will and sometimes they won’t, but even if they don’t, they can keep your name on file for when the next opportunity comes up. If you have a special skill set like public relations or web development that you’re willing to offer, let them know. You never know when they’ll need help from someone like you.
- Become More Informed: While it’s easy to get hung up on outcomes at the higher levels of our legal system, like the Supreme Court, wrongful convictions start in the courthouses of the cities and towns you live in. Prosecutors hold an enormous amount of power when it comes to deciding when to pursue cases against someone and what charges to pursue. And in most states, they are elected officials. So are sheriffs and in some instances judges as well. It’s important to learn more about who is running for office in your district, and then to vote and educate others about doing the same. Local elections have huge implications for wrongful convictions.
- Reach Out: Being in prison is an isolating experience for many. And when you are innocent, it can feel especially hopeless. Writing to someone in prison is a small thing that can have a huge impact for the person you are writing to. It gives our clients hope, a sense of support, and just brightens their days. It can be tricky to know how to navigate the rules and regulations around sending mail to someone in prison, so we wrote a how-to guide to help.
- Raise Your Voice: Speak up and speak out about wrongful convictions, about the client cases we are working on, about legislation that will help prevent wrongful convictions, about your local district attorney and what their policies are, etc. Follow and share the social media posts from innocence organizations, tell your friends about what you learn, and keep talking about the issues around wrongful convictions. The more people know about the problems in our criminal justice system, the more momentum there is to fix them and make sure we put an end to wrongful convictions once and for all.
We will be continuing the conversation about wrongful convictions today and tomorrow on our social media platforms, so be sure to follow us and join the discussion. Also if you want to learn more, the Innocence Network is hosting a full-day of free programming featuring experts, advocates, and directly impacted people. Join here: https://bit.ly/WCDLivestream2022
Featured image by Emiliano Bar on Unsplash.