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Our Work

The Innocence Project works to free the innocent, prevent wrongful convictions, and create fair, compassionate, and equitable systems of justice for everyone. Our work is guided by science and grounded in anti-racism.

Restoring
Freedom

We use DNA and other scientific advancements to prove innocence, and we are committed to helping each person we represent rebuild their life post-release.

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Recent Exonerations

Melissa Lucio

Time Served: 17 years

Melissa Lucio poses for a portrait behind glass at the Mountain View Unit in Gatesville, Texas. (Image: Ilana Panich-Linsman for the Innocence Project)

Marvin Grimm, Jr.

Time Served: 45 years

Marvin Grimm, Jr. in New York City (Image: Elijah Craig II/Innocence Project)

Sandra Hemme

Time Served: 43 years

Chillicothe, MO — Sandra Hemme walks out of prison after 43 years. She is the longest-known wrongly incarcerated woman in the U.S. (Image: Courtesy of the Hemme legal team)

Scott Minton

Time Served: 30 years

Scott Minton in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Thursday, January 23, 2025 (Image: Alyssa Pointer for the Innocence Project).

Herman Williams

Time Served: 29 years

Herman Williams, pictured with his sister Carolyn Langendorf, was exonerated and released from an Illinois prison on Sept. 6, 2022 after 29 years. (Image: Tori Howard for the Innocence Project)

Gerry Thomas

Time Served: 29 years

Gerry Thomas

Thomas Siller

Time Served: 9 years

Thomas Siller

Jabar Walker

Time Served: 25 years

Jabar Walker exonerated in Manhattan on Nov. 27, 2023 (Image: Elijah Craig II/Innocence Project)

Ian Schweitzer

Time Served: 23 years

Images from the Albert “Ian” Schweitzer first day of freedom Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2023 in Hilo, Hawaii. (Marco Garcia/The Innocence Project)

George Perrot

Time Served: 28 years

George Perrot hugging his mother after he was released on Feb. 11, 2016.

Norberto Peets

Time Served: 23.5 years

Norberto Peets

John Nolley

Time Served: 17 years

John Nolley

Felipe Rodriguez

Time Served: 25 years

Photo: Innocence Project client Felipe Rodriguez is pictured with his attorneys Nina Morrison (senior litigation counsel at the Innocence Project) and Zachary Margulis-Ohnuma on the day he was exonerated in New York City. Felipe was wrongfully convicted based largely on the false testimony of a police informant and because evidence supporting his innocence was unlawfully withheld from his defense attorney. In 2017, Felipe was freed from prison after 27 years when his sentence was commuted by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo. As a result of a reinvestigation conducted by the Innocence Project and the Queens County District Attorney’s Office, Felipe was fully exonerated in 2019 after seeking justice for nearly 30 years.
Credit: Sameer Abdel-Khalek for the Innocence Project.

Mallory Nicholson

Time Served: 21 years

DALLAS, TEXAS - JUNE 2-Mallory Nicholson is exonerated June 2, 2022 in Dallas Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins / Innocence Project)

Michelle Murphy

Time Served: 20 years

Michelle Murphy at the Innocence Project conference in 2022. (Image: Kenny Karpov/Innocence Project)

Stanley Mozee

Time Served: 14 years

Stanley Orson Mozee, represented by the Innocence Project and Attorney Nina Morrison (background), takes his first steps on the outside after Judge Mark Stoltz overturned his conviction for murder because of prosecutorial misconduct at the Frank Crowley Courts Building on Tuesday, October 28, 2014. (Photo copyright Lara Solt)

Leonard Mack

Time Served: 7.5 years

Innocence Project client Leonard Mack exonerated after 47 years in White Plains, New York on Sept. 5, 2023. (Image: Elijah Craig II/Innocence Project)

Renay Lynch

Time Served: 24 years

Innocence Project exoneree Renay Lynch at 2024 Innocence Network Conference in New Orleans (Image: Claire Bangers/Innocence Project).

Perry Lott

Time Served: 30

Perry Lott at the 2022 Innocence Network Conference in Arizona. (Image: Kenny Karpov/Innocence Project)

Carlton Lewis

Time Served: 31 years

(Image: Malik Rainey/Innocence Project)

Transforming Systems

We work to transform the inequities and failings that lead to wrongful convictions, alongside policymakers, supporters, and partner organizations.

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250+

state and federal laws passed

50

states that allow experts to testify about eyewitness identification

1.2M

advocates who have joined us to create policy change

Advancing the Movement

Together with innocence organizations and advocates around the world, we fight to strengthen the innocence movement.

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Explore the Numbers

Take a look at the data behind our cases — including the demographics of our clients and the factors that have contributed to their wrongful convictions — along with the lessons we’ve learned over the years.

Sign a Petition

Join us in our urgent fight to free wrongfully individuals and advance criminal justice reform by signing petitions, calling policymakers, and more. Your voice is critical in driving necessary change.