Dallas Morning News Names Innocence Project Board Chair Rodney Ellis “Texan of the Year”

12.28.15

The Dallas Morning News has awarded Innocence Project Board Chairman and Texas State Senator Rodney Ellis its annual “Texan of the year.”  He shares the honor with his colleagues in the Texas legislature Senator John Whitmire and Representative Ruth Jones McClendon for their joint efforts to pass legislation reducing injustice. 

Over the past year, the three lawmakers passed numerous criminal justice reforms including a law establishing a commission to review cases of people claiming that they were wrongly convicted and improvements to the state’s DNA testing law guaranteeing people access to DNA testing in any case where evidence is likely to contain biological material. 

Writing of Sen Ellis’ accomplishments, the editorial said, “The measures he championed this year — and in previous legislative sessions — have targeted every major facet of flawed criminal justice, from prosecutors’ reliance on junk science (such as bite-mark evidence) and flawed eyewitness testimony, to holding overzealous prosecutors accountable and improving public-defender funding so indigents can’t be railroaded into prison.”

You can read the entire editorial

here

Leave a Reply

Thank you for visiting us. You can learn more about how we consider cases here. Please avoid sharing any personal information in the comments below and join us in making this a hate-speech free and safe space for everyone.

This field is required.
This field is required.
This field is required.