Innocence Blog
April 25, 2007
Innocence Project marks 200th exoneration nationwide at first annual celebration
At the Innocence Project’s first annual Celebration of Freedom & Justice last night in New York, 18 people who have been exonerated were honored and awards were given to several people and organizations vital to the work of freeing the innocent and reforming the criminal justice system. Jerry Miller, who was exonerated on Monday in Chicago and became the 200th person to be cleared by DNA evidence nationwide, joined us for the event.
Before a packed house of more than 600 people, a special award was given to Calvin Johnson, who was exonerated after serving more than 15 years in Georgia prisons and now serves on the Innocence Project Board of Directors. Also honored Janet Reno (a founding member of the Innocence Project Board of Directors), Cravath, Swaine & Moore (the Innocence Project’s corporate counsel) and Matt Blank (the CEO and Chairman of Showtime, which produced the film After Innocence).
Watch video from the event. (NY1: Innocence Project Marks Milestone.)
Visit our special section on the 200th Exoneration for multimedia features, criminal justice resources, and more.
Clarence Page: The 200th reason to test DNA
In a column in today’s Chicago Tribune, Clarence Page calls Jerry Miller’s exoneration "both gratifying and horrifying."
…An Army veteran from Chicago is the 200th person to be exonerated by DNA evidence, according to the Innocence Project, a non-profit New York-based legal clinic.
That's gratifying because justice — long denied to innocents like Jerry Miller, 48, and the 199 others who were exonerated before him — finally has been served. But Miller's good news is also horrifying in the questions it raises about flaws in our nation's criminal justice system.
Read the full column. (Chicago Tribune, 4/25/07)
Philadelphia Inquirer: Criminal Justice Failures
An editorial in today’s Philadelphia Inquirer calls for criminal justice reforms to address the causes of wrongful conviction.
Since the first person was exonerated by DNA evidence in 1989, such reversals are becoming more frequent. The 200 people cleared by DNA in the United States spent a combined 2,475 years in prison for crimes they didn't commit.
What if one of them were your brother, or son, or father?
There can be no doubt that there are other innocent people behind bars, including some on death row.
Read the full editorial here. (Philadelphia Inquirer, 4/25/07)
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