The Innocence Project

The criminal justice system does not always operate smoothly. As painful as it is to consider, occasionally the innocent are wrongfully condemned and spend the rest of their lives fighting for exoneration.

The Colom Foundation has joined forces with the Innocence Project to help these unfortunates. The Innocence Project is a national litigation and public policy organization founded by attorneys Barry C. Scheck and Peter J. Neufeld in 1992 to help clear the wrongfully condemned through DNA testing. The Project also seeks to reform the justice system from within, thereby avoiding such miscarriages of justice in the future.

Thanks to Colom Foundation funding, a new chapter of the Innocence Project has been founded at the University of Mississippi School of Law.

DNA testing has been a major factor in changing the criminal justice system. It provides final, scientific proof that innocent people are tried and convicted, and that wrongful conviction is not as isolated an event as we would like to believe.

“Many of the people we try to reach are poor and forgotten,” stated Colom Foundation founder Wilbur O. Colom. “They have exhausted every legal avenue available to them. It is our hope that performing DNA testing on the remaining biological evidence will lead to the release of these unfortunate souls.”

“The real world of the justice system is not like what you see on television,” Colom continued. “Gee-whiz forensic methods like analysis of particles and fibers don’t hold up to real, strong scientific scrutiny, and yet they are used as the sole means of conviction in a staggering number of cases. DNA evidence, on the other hand, has given us a nearly infallible means of proving guilt or innocence.”

The Innocence Project is more than just DNA testing, however. They also consult with legislators and law enforcement officials on the state, local and federal level, conduct research and training, and attempt to find real-world remedies for wrongful convictions.

For more information on the Innocence Project, visit their web site at http://www.innocenceproject.org.