Opinion
Finding justice
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Also by Badger Herald Editorial Board:
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- The People's Choice Award: Jacqueline Hitchon et. al (May 7, 2009)
- The Lifetime Achievement Award: ASM (May 7, 2009)
- Honest representation (May 5, 2009)
- Junger for ASM Chair (May 5, 2009)
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The Wisconsin Innocence Project is once again in the headlines after a wrongly convicted man it helped free in 2003 was awarded $25,000 from the Wisconsin Claims Board last week.
Steven Avery, who was wrongfully incarcerated for 18 years after he was found guilty in 1986 of sexually assaulting a woman, joins several other individuals who owe their freedom — and lives — to the Wisconsin Innocence Project. While many undergraduates may be unaware of this program’s presence on campus, it is a powerful and successful project that is part of the Frank J. Remington Center at the University of Wisconsin Law School. What this project does is provide legal assistance to select inmates who claim to be innocent of the crimes for which they are serving time.
This program, founded in 1998 and co-directed by UW Law Professors Keith Findley and John Pray, enrolls approximately 20 law school students at any given time. These students, under the supervision of attorneys, investigate and litigate the claims of innocence on behalf of prisoners. There is no charge to the prisoner for any of the work done by the Wisconsin Innocence Project.
The program primarily takes cases in which new evidence — preferably physical evidence such as blood, semen or hair that can be used in DNA testing — has been found that can help prove the innocence of the inmate. The project’s work in such cases has helped prove the innocence of individuals such as Maurice Carter, who was wrongfully convicted of attempted murder and spent 28 years in prison; and Christopher Ochoa, who was threatened by law enforcement officials with the death penalty to make him confess to murdering a woman. Ochoa spent 12 years in prison before DNA tests in 2000 proved beyond a doubt that he was innocent. He is now a law student at UW, working with some of the same people who helped free him from prison.
The amazing feats the Wisconsin Innocence Project has accomplished in cases such as these emphasize what a valuable program it is on campus. Not only does it strive to seek out justice while educating some of Wisconsin’s brightest students along the way, but this project is truly the essence of the Wisconsin Idea. Many volunteers donate countless hours and are completely dedicated to the program’s cause.
This is one program that deserves support and recognition for the work it does.
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why wait to help? Why not look into cases that are pending, before an innocent person gets put into jail or is charged with a crime that destroys their life, only to be found innocent later after the damage is done?