We work to help free innocent people from prison and transform the criminal legal system.
New York, NY
Joined September 2008
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BREAKING: #CarmenMejia just walked free after 22 years of wrongful conviction in Texas. While she was exonerated on Monday, she was not immediately released due to an immigration hold.
ICE announced that in light of the exoneration they would lift the detainer so that she could be released from local custody.
"I never lost faith and hope — I never lost it in 22 years," she said.
Read more: shorturl.at/xHo2p
We have some good news to share!
We’ve been honored with two Gold #AnthemAwards for our short film, “What I Didn’t Know” and our special #America250 feature, “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.”
View our award-winning work here:
“What I Didn’t Know”: bit.ly/4ilSaiI
“Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness”: bit.ly/4eSVJuY
Thank you to everyone who makes our work to free the innocent possible. We’re grateful for your support!
Michigan has an opportunity to advance critical innocence reforms.
SB 909 would make it easier for exonerees to receive the compensation they’re owed. SB 1035/HB 6092 would update the state’s 2001 DNA testing law so more people, including those who pleaded guilty, can use modern science to prove their innocence.
Along with the Michigan Innocence Clinic, the Cooley School of Law Innocence Project, and the Organization of Exonerees, help us strengthen support for the wrongfully convicted.
Read more on why these reforms are urgent: bit.ly/3Uho32P
“The death penalty carries a risk no system can remedy: executing an innocent person. Neither post-mortem evidence nor formal apology can repair such a catastrophic error.” - Christina Swarns, Innocence Project Executive Director
Today, Governor Gavin Newsom commuted the death sentences of all 548 people on California’s death row. No one in California will be executed for a crime they didn’t commit.
Since 1989, six people condemned to death in California have been exonerated. Nationwide, more than 200 people have been exonerated from death row.
The governor’s decision saves lives and brings us closer to a legal system that is fair, compassionate, and equitable for everyone.
Read the full statement from Innocence Project Executive Director Christina Swarns: bit.ly/3Um7PFD
Robert DuBoise lost nearly 37 years to a wrongful conviction. After his exoneration, registering to vote was one of the first things he did. bit.ly/49vqovY
Robert's first ballot came decades after he turned 18. Many ballots include races for the prosecutors and judges who decide how cases like his are handled. His story is a reminder of what's at stake in every race on the ballot. bit.ly/49vqovY
If you or someone you love has been exonerated, you have the right to vote. Check your registration and find your polling place: vote.gov
Junk science sends innocent people to prison, and courts keep letting it in.
Chris Fabricant, director of strategic litigation at the Innocence Project, explains how discredited forensic methods have contributed to hundreds of wrongful convictions, and why prosecutors still rely on them today.
“Without real scientific scrutiny the chance of a forensic technique being introduced to trial and being wrong or exaggerated is overwhelming.”
Via @NPR: n.pr/4iCizrt
#JunkScience #WrongfulConvictions
Marvin Anderson was 18 when he was wrongfully convicted and sentenced to 210 years in prison. It took 20 years to win his freedom.
Last week, Marvin, a member of the Innocence Project’s Exoneree Advisory Council, joined Executive Director Christina Swarns at Binghamton University’s Harriet Tubman Center for Freedom and Equity to talk about how to push for change locally and nationally.
“Research estimates between 1 and 5% of those folks that are currently inside are actually innocent… So that means up to 100,000 people are behind the wall who did actually nothing wrong,” Christina said.
bit.ly/4BEOu2Z
This week, Innocence Project Executive Director Christina Swarns spoke at Binghamton University as part of a program focused on shifting the criminal legal system from punishment to rehabilitation. Her ask to the audience was clear: together, we can push for a legal system that is fair.
bit.ly/4ihSxLi
“He showed up for every exoneree who needed a big brother, and he never stopped believing that people could be better than the worst thing done to them.” Peter Neufeld remembers Herman Atkins, freed by DNA evidence in 2000 after 12 years of wrongful imprisonment. He died Oct. 24 at 61.
bit.ly/3UZyvvY
Wrongful convictions take years from people's lives, including years of elections decided without them. When exonerees come home, many aren't sure they're eligible to vote. They are.
An exoneration clears your conviction, and you have the right to vote. Check your registration and make a plan at vote.gov.
If you know someone who's been exonerated, send this to them.
#ElectionDay #WrongfulConvictions #Exonerated
Wrongful convictions take years from people's lives, including years of elections decided without them. When exonerees come home, many aren't sure they're eligible to vote. They are.
An exoneration clears your conviction, and you have the right to vote. Check your registration and make a plan at vote.gov.
If you know someone who's been exonerated, send this to them.
#ElectionDay #WrongfulConvictions #Exonerated
New York City’s most anticipated annual sporting event is here!
Members of the Innocence Project team will be running the NYC Marathon on Sunday. Cheer them on 11/1, and make a donation to help empower our mission. #NYCMarathon bit.ly/4itOGJR
We are thrilled to announce that our feature “Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness: Portraits of a Promise Broken and Restored,” is nominated for a 2026 #AnthemAward in the Special Projects in Content & Media, Human & Civil Rights category.
In this special #America250 feature, 16 Innocence Project clients reflected on the American promise of freedom — what it means to have it stolen and what it’s like to reclaim it.
Voting closes today!
bit.ly/4hVO0ws
We are thrilled to announce that our short film, “What I Didn’t Know” is nominated for a 2026 #AnthemAward in the Video Campaign or Series in Campaign, Human & Civil Rights category!
“What I Didn’t Know,” explores the challenges of life after wrongful conviction and incarceration — and the strength that it takes to heal and rebuild.
Voting closes today!
bit.ly/4hMjGWl
Last month, Judge R. Austin Huffaker Jr., vacated Charles McCrory’s conviction calling widely discredited bite-mark analysis that wrongly convicted him “grossly unreliable and unsupported by relevant scientific bodies.”
Huffaker ordered the State of Alabama to either retry Charles within six months, or release him from prison. Yet prosecutors filed a motion last week wanting to reinstate his conviction. Charles’ lawyers have no sense of when he might walk out, and have asked the courts to free him on bond in the meantime.
Charles was wrongly convicted in 1985, and has maintained his innocence for nearly 40 years. #WrongfulConviction #JunkScience
bit.ly/4ssm7AS
@theintercept
“In prison, I wanted to stay as healthy as possible, to survive. Now, I’m running because I enjoy it,” said Termaine Hicks, who was exonerated in 2020 after 19 years of wrongful imprisonment.
While incarcerated, Termaine took part in “run-a-thons,” circling the prison yard track 126 times to complete the equivalent of a marathon. In 2024, he ran the NYC Marathon to celebrate his resilience and freedom.
As NYC gears up for the 2026 marathon this weekend, read and share Termaine’s story: bit.ly/3Liry3Y
#WrongfulConviction #NYCMarathon
Through the National Amplification Campaign survey, Life After Justice aims to help freed and exonerated people to reclaim the narrative, build accountability, and shape what comes next.
Participants will receive a $50 honorarium. Let your voice be heard by 10/31.
bit.ly/4bnGp7z
Curtis Flowers, who was exonerated in 2020 after six trials and nearly 23 years in prison, died last week at 56.
His case is one of the clearest examples of how jury selection drives wrongful convictions. The prosecutor in all six trials struck Black prospective jurors at more than four times the rate of white ones. Research shows that all-white juries deliberate for less time, consider fewer perspectives, and make more mistakes than representative juries.
The Supreme Court's 1986 Batson ruling was meant to stop this practice. Curtis’ case shows how much it still goes unchecked.
The Innocence Project’s own Ashley Burrell reflects on his life, his courage, and what we owe him.
Through the National Amplification Campaign survey, Life After Justice aims to help freed and exonerated people to reclaim the narrative, build accountability, and shape what comes next.
Participants will receive a $50 honorarium. Let your voice be heard by 10/31.
bit.ly/4bnGp7z
