Help Wrongfully Convicted New Yorkers Prove Their Innocence
New York has the third highest number of wrongful convictions in the nation. This is because current state law makes it effectively impossible for innocent people who pleaded guilty to challenge their convictions in court, countless people with credible innocence claims cannot get relief in court. (According to the National Registry of Exonerations, more than one in five of the nearly 2800 people who have been exonerated since 1989 pleaded guilty despite their innocence.)
The Challenging Wrongful Convictions Act (S. 215/A. 2878) would fix the law to enable an authentic legal pathway to exoneration. The Challenging Wrongful Convictions Act would:
- Allow people without the benefit of DNA evidence in their cases to get back into court to prove their innocence.
- Provide a right to post-conviction discovery.
- Establish a right to counsel for those with wrongful conviction claims.
Use the form above to add your name in support of The Challenging Wrongful Convictions Act (S. 215/A. 2878), to ensure that wrongfully convicted New Yorkers have the chance to prove their innocence.
The Innocence Project is part of a coalition that includes VOCAL-NY, New York County Defender Services, and other legal organizations supporting The Challenging Wrongful Convictions Act.